Tomorrow's Wake
by Chicobo329
Summary: Follow the steps of Miles "Tails" Prower as he ventures alone on the fallen Angel Island to stop Eggman's evil plans at reviving the Death Egg. An adapation of Sonic 3 & Knuckles that follows solely Tails. Rated T for some blood.
1. Angel Island Zone Act 1

_(I'm not one for Author's Notes at the beginning of a story, since people want to see the goods right away, but I will give two important notes before moving along. This story uses a modified canon of mine: Tails Adventures did not take place before Sonic 2 as was the case in the original Japanese storyline. Instead , Tails has yet to go through the events of that game. Naturally this is an alternate canon story anyway, presenting Tails going through Sonic 3 & Knuckles alone, so I could afford to be a bit lax in this regard._

_The other note I have is for right at the start: the beginning features a journal entry. I don't think I'll do another like it again, but aside from this entry which is present tense, the rest of this story is past tense narration. That's all! Enjoy the show.)_

**Disclaimer: **I'll do this disclaimer only once. The characters of Sonic The Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles The Echidna, and Dr. Ivo Robotnik (aka Eggman) are property of Service Games Ltd. (SEGA). Furthermore the basic scenario of this game, Sonic 3 (combined with Sonic & Knuckles) belongs to Sonic Team (and also SEGA) but the majority of original elements and this story itself is the product of myself. This story is not for profit and I much don't like the prospect of being sued. Go to GameFAQs to look up this game and check the Data section to look at the game staff: give them all a big kudos for creating what I feel to be the finest Sonic game ever made.

The title of this story is taken from a remix from Overclocked ReMix, 'Tomorrow's Wake' by Rexy.

* * *

**Tomorrow's Wake**

_A Sonic 3 & Knuckles game adaptation_

By Chicobo329

* * *

**May 27th, 1994  
**

I have successfully landed on Angel Island, the former floating island of the world. Formerly floating, as it was knocked out of its ascent and sent plummeting into the southern seas by the ruined Death Egg. I'm amazed the island didn't incur any further damage; it appears to be just floating lazily across the sea. No doubt Eggman is still alive. Not more than two days have passed since its falling and the entire station disappeared from view. He's going to rebuild it, I know it. But I have to do this alone; I don't have Sonic with me this time.

He disappeared after the Death Egg crashed down. I prepped the Tornado to make a hasty recovery but he was nowhere to be found. I couldn't believe it myself, that the world's most famous hero could die that easily, and with all seven Chaos Emeralds in hand. I _refused_ to believe it. Logic overwhelmed hope: the seven emeralds came crashing down along with the Death Egg and Sonic's body wasn't found. I couldn't set out on a frantic search for him; he wouldn't _want_ me to do that.

I knew what Sonic would want me to do: get the Chaos Emeralds back and stop Eggman. Whether he actually died or not, this is my chance to prove to him I can take charge. To have followed in his shadow for only even a short time has proven to me that I can keep up his pace and make my own path. My chance has finally come not only to make him proud, but also to succeed him. I can become the world's newest hero and carry on his legacy! Perhaps I feel that I am shooting high, but I have confidence in my own ability to keep my head out of the clouds. I can do this.

Not long after landing the Tornado, I used my Chaos Locater to retrieve the seven Chaos Emeralds. A speedy recovery was possible: they all landed around the Emerald Hill area, not far from where I parked the Tornado before. It was almost as if they wanted to come back to my possession and I was glad for this. I hadn't personally held onto all seven before, but I was well aware of their power: Sonic changed form and became Super Sonic with them. The power he gained was truly awesome; I couldn't begin to imagine how it must have felt like to have all that power gathered inside one's self. And yet, here I am with all seven, but with no capability to attain a Super form.

It's as if the stones have not chosen me, that I'm not deemed worthy. I personally find it asinine! Stones with minds of their own? Impossible! Even with the mysterious powers of Chaos Energy this seemed far fetched to think. It was enough that I decided to go this alone without Sonic, but it personally frustrates me that he could do something with these stones that I couldn't. What was his secret? What did he have that I don't?

I'll find a way to use them, somehow I will. Eggman will pay for what he did to Sonic and I'll see to it personally that justice is served. I have the seven emeralds in tow, tucked away in my backpack. I only have a few provisions on me: an emergency tool kit, water, some small medical supplies, and this journal (along with some spare pens). This should last me a while; knowing Eggman, there will be multitudes of badniks to not only smash but also to take parts from. Hopefully that, along with natural flora and fauna here, can get me through this trek. I've never used a journal before. I held onto this for a while but never found a need to document the time I had with Sonic. Without him now, this is the time to put onto paper my adventure so that one day I can look back onto these pages to see how I really did and learn from my trials and tribulations.

My first step is to explore the nearby jungles. The Tornado is parked onto a nearby beach (perhaps formally a cliff of the island itself) and with luck it will stay safe. My first job is simply to investigate and search for clues as to where Eggman hid the Death Egg. From there I can formulate a better plan of action.

* * *

Jungles were not places I was used to. I had traveled with Sonic all around the diverse West Side Island, but I had never found myself in a real rainforest or jungle setting. Sonic used to tell me of a time when he went to some sort of 'Jungle Zone', but knowing his lack of attention and detail, I can only assume it was just some random jungle anywhere. For all my respect and admiration for him, I was actually really annoyed at this fact. Where was Sonic's sense of perception and analysis? Did he even have time for that? Much less what those words actually meant?

I didn't think I would remind myself of Sonic's shortcomings. And he certainly had quite a few. But at the time, when I started to walk through this jungle, I let my mind wander onto all sorts of subjects. Sonic was a dominant subject in my mind. Gone for only days, and yet I felt as if he would be gone forever. It was only like yesterday when I idolized him and followed his shadow across the world and here I am going on my own trek across new lands. This time I could travel at my own pace and see the places for what they were really worth.

The warm, wet air dampened my long fur and left me feeling uncomfortable. Although the lush greenery and exotic plants were enough to catch my fancy, letting my eyes wander and take in the sights, it was a constant feeling of the warm, sticky air that forced me to focus on my mission. Much of the tall overgrowth towered over me and my small frame; at times the tall grass and leaves nearly overwhelmed my path ahead. I often had to slice them down with my tails in lieu of something more practical like a machete. It was a locale that wanted people to bask in its pleasure, but apparently it wasn't too kind to people wanting to cut their way through it.

For a short while, as I was slicing my way ahead, I had thought I was going into the wrong direction. In the times before with Sonic we had a general idea of where to go. Follow the trail of badniks to lead the way to where Eggman was, then pursue him to some other place. Heck, even following trails of rings would suffice! Those mysterious golden rings, visible only to those with a keen sense of Chaos Energy, often floated harmlessly in the air and in rows which Sonic would use a guide to get through a lot of the areas. I never understood how or why the rings were located the way they were, but as I figure, there's a logical explanation in the end. Chaos Energy often worked in mysterious ways...

Regardless, the absence of rings and badniks made me feel at the time that I had gone off track. It annoyed me more than it should have; I was already fresh off my goal to defeating Eggman in the absence of Sonic and to have started my journey that way dampened my spirits a bit. As far as I was concerned, I was alone save for the scores of exotic bugs and animal calls that echoed all across this rainforest. There wasn't so much as a single nut or bolt left on the ground, or the smell of oil and grease to offer any clues (I wouldn't have been able to smell it anyway, as the damp air overwhelmed my sense of smell).

But I never felt completely lost. It was a gut instinct that I followed, taking a page from Sonic's book of life (not that he would have any time to write one). Usually I would set up a plan beforehand and it was these plans that helped Sonic stop Eggman before. So it was a bit strange for someone so methodical such as myself to just go on a 'gut feeling'. Perhaps at the time I felt that it was my only sense of self assurance that I wasn't going onto some pointless adventure, but it certainly worked in keeping me moving.

I was relieved when I found myself in a clearing. My tails had been used quite often to cut ahead new paths and finally I was able to rest them for a bit. The clearing was very welcome, as the tall overgrowth from before was gone, replaced by a wonderful view of a tall cliff ahead with small amounts of water leaking down, not enough to be called a major 'waterfall'. Lush green plants dotted the rough brown cliffs and the grass several times taller than myself shortened dramatically into something more stable to walk through.

The skies could be seen farther ahead, which led me to believe I'd made some sort of ascent while back in the thick of the jungle. This world was often strange in this way, with many 'floating' rock formations with their own soil and grass. I had seen plenty back at places like Emerald Hill and Hilltop. Many of these are scattered around the zones, which makes these areas feel maze-like often hopping up and down from these formations would be the optimal way of passing through them.

I looked forward to seeing a good vantage point of the area once I passed through this ravine of sorts, but I had stopped for a moment simply to catch my breath and take in some fresh (and thankfully less moist) air. My eyes scanned around the area ahead for anything unusual. Nothing noteworthy could be seen, aside from more tall trees and vines, and some very welcome sunshine. My nose and ears weren't too reliable here because of the many distractions to those senses; my eyesight became vital to spotting any potential dangers. I prided myself in my strong senses, welcome carryovers from the kindred vulpine species. I was often able to spot many dangers ahead before Sonic could. I didn't feel lost without heavy use of them, but at times they can be overbearing (the heavy stench of crude oil in Oil Ocean Zone was murderous to my nose!).

Neither of these helped me for the surprise that happened next. The ground from under me began to rumble, but before I had any opportunity to even look down to see what was below I was tossed aside with a violent force and tumbled across the grass. The contents of my backpack scattered across the ground and I was left reeling in pain from whatever (or whoever) shot up from the earth under me. I stopped to look up and see the cause of the issue.

A red echidna, clad only in thick white gloves, akin to boxing gloves with two spikes on each hand above the knuckles and thick shoes colored green and red with metal plating atop each. He seemed to have yellow socks on; in retrospect I felt they didn't really suit him. He seemed quite a bit taller than me - I could guess he was almost a foot taller. Long spines ran down his head, down to about shoulder's length. They appeared as 'dreadlocks', and seemed more naturalistic to his species than Sonic's broad, large spikes. On his chest was a peculiar marking, a sort of upside crescent colored white. I couldn't tell if this was a natural marking or perhaps something painted on. But it was that stupid grin he had on his face that I remember the most! The moment I looked up to his face and saw that big toothy grin and accompanying snicker, I growled and got to my feet. Before I could recover the most important cargo I carried, the Chaos Emeralds, he sped across the ground and snatched up all seven. Such speed! He _had_ to have been a user of Chaos Energy to have run at such a fast speed.

"Stop!" I yelled at him and started to run after him. But I couldn't do such a thing; I tripped over my own toolkit! I landed face first onto the ground and looked up to see that cursed sneer on his face again.

"Go back home, kid! I don't have time to deal with you," he taunted me again and showed the seven emeralds he held in his hands. "I'll be taking these to the doctor."

'The doctor'...I knew right away who he was talking about.

"Eggman!" I snarled and got up to my feet as fast as I could. "You're working for _him_?"

The echidna simply shrugged "The doctor sounds like a nice person to me. Somebody just ruined his space station and stole his Chaos Emeralds. He told me some blue hedgehog and a two-tailed fox would be after him to try and sabotage his plans."

I was almost livid, not just because Eggman was doing some dirty trick, but because I downright hated this guy! How could he be so..._stupid_ as to have fallen for a simple lie like that? It was as if he were gullibility personified!

I clenched my fists and folded my ears back "You'll be dealing with _me_! Eggman's space station is a practical death machine! He's trying to take over the world, not save it!" I didn't think this guy had such a thick head!

I couldn't bear to wait for his mind to take in the truth, so I charged at him and rolled into a ball. The spinning maneuver was a trick I picked up from Sonic and is made possible by the Chaos Energy inside us that makes our bodies very flexible. Only Sonic perfected it to the point where he can actually see where he's spinning, manipulating the energy inside to keep his vision focused to a single point ahead even while rolling at a fast speed, creating something similar to a 'persistence of vision' effect. I lacked this ability so my blind charge was a risky and reckless move. The echidna saw this coming and I felt myself being kicked off track and tumbled yet again over to a side.

That stupid snicker filled my ears and I looked up from the ground again to see him just standing there, sneering. "The way you fight, I'm sure the doctor will have no trouble dealing with you. Get out of here, kid."

"I'm no kid!" I gave another snarl, I couldn't take that crap! I helped save the world with Sonic before, I could do it on my own! There was no way I could take that stupid insult "I'm Miles 'Tails' Prower! I am going to stop Eggman and _anyone_ that gets in my way. And that includes _you._"

I jumped onto my feet again and this time ran at him and spun once, sending my tails at his chest. I thought that with luck I can slash at his chest, or at least knock him back a good deal. But he also anticipated this attack; he leapt into the air curled into a ball (I was surprised that he could do this too, 'definitely a Chaos user' I told myself) and landed behind me. Before I could twirl around and react, he punched me (keeping in mind he still held three emeralds in that hand) and hit my ribcage. Those two sharp spikes on his glove dug into my side and I staggered back in pain, clutching the spot where he struck.

His toothy grin receded into a simple smirk as he stood back and watched me bleed. "They don't call me Knuckles for nothing."

I looked down at my glove to see it stained with red with blood. The two holes on my side from his spiked gloves were not very deep, yet it was very painful. I sensed the fact that he held back his punch on purpose, perhaps to further provoke me. This 'Knuckles' certainly did a good job at this: here he was with seven emeralds still in his hands and he simply stood there to toss me around and laugh at me.

But my rage quickly faded away as I noticed a very odd sight: the emeralds in his hands began to shimmer! It was a faint shimmer, a small twinkle around some facets as if it were 'winking'. Were these stones being mischievous? I stood there and watched as the emeralds floated out of Knuckles' oversized mitts. The shock of this made the echidna stagger back and almost fall on his back (now _that_ would have deserved all the laughter in the world!). The seven stones floated in the air, gave a final shimmer, and shot off into the sky.

Knuckles then shot a glare at me and clenched his fists "What the heck did you just do?!"

What did _I_ do?

"I didn't do a single thing! The emeralds acted on their own and...scattered." The emeralds never did this before, why now of all times?

The echidna shoved me aside and stormed down the ravine into a further clearing ahead. He turned back to me and pointed at me with a warning, "Listen here 'Tails', stay out of my way! I won't let you harm the doctor and take the emeralds. If I see you again, I won't be so easy on you!" Before I had a chance to respond he dashed off.

I kicked the ground in frustration. Not only did I lose the emeralds, but I cursed myself for not packing with me the Chaos Locater I used to find the emeralds. Stupid! The emeralds could've been anywhere on this island and I had no means to locate them. Frustration built up as I hastily gathered the rest of my possessions back into my backpack. How come Sonic never had it this tough? He always took these things in stride, and yet I got so angry that I almost couldn't think straight.

I calmed down just enough, however. I knew my mission. I knew what I was here for. Getting the Chaos Emeralds was the first priority now as getting all seven are vital to stopping Eggman again. I looked to the path ahead of me and ran down it, ready to start an emerald hunt.

* * *

**Tomorrow's Wake**

_Angel Island Zone Act 1_

**

* * *

**

Of course I still had the wound on my right side. My mounting frustrations set me off on a brash decision yet again. I felt like Sonic already: rushing ahead without thinking. I couldn't just waste my medical supplies on a wound this early on my way. I had to find some rings. 'Where there's badniks, there's rings' he would say. Rings had healing properties only to those that can utilize Chaos Energy. Collecting them meant having wounds heal considerably faster than the average person, often closing up and healing before my very eyes. Without question they have saved my life, and Sonic's, several times.

The phenomenon of rings often (though not always) appearing when trouble was around led me to believe there was some sort of subconscious 'trigger' that makes one sensitive to all things Chaos-related suddenly 'wake up' and see these golden objects. There's always a reasonable explanation behind these events, I'm sure of it. I had always wanted to pursue study on this subject and thought that hopefully someday I could fully realize how to harness this awesome force.

Fortunately, my decision to not use my medical kit paid off. After running out of the ravine and up a small incline, I could see into view three rings, floating inches off the ground and spinning around in a lazy pace. Only three rings wouldn't be enough to completely recover, but the least it could do was stop the bleeding. Quickly I dashed to the top of the incline and grabbed the three rings. Rings disappeared by touch, leaving behind four sparkles that fade away in a second's time. As I learned from Sonic, I could touch rings with any part of my body and they would be 'collected'. Each ring contained a small sample of Chaos Energy which transfers to the user that touched it.

I already felt its magic working from within: I looked down to the wound to see that the bleeding slowed down to a large degree. The area was still tender and pain shot across my side when I reached down to touch the wound. I needed more rings. It was almost like an addiction: as if somehow I still needed to get more and more rings. It wouldn't reach a fever pitch, but often in areas of intense action and numerous hazards I found myself scrambling for as many rings as possible.

A simple scan from my vantage point saw five more rings down the slope ahead of me. Further past that, beyond the coconut tree ahead, were three more on an arcing slope, and three more down past a large rock above. Fourteen rings. Considering how that blasted echidna was purposely holding back, that sounded like a reasonable amount to heal up my wound. I moved across the gentle slope down in a light jog and grabbed each of the five rings.

I had enough momentum to dash up the slope and gather the other three in one fell swoop. Running down hills and reaching the tall quarter-circle slopes at the ends of them often threw Sonic and me high up in the air with all our momentum from running. Oh the rush I'd feel from that! The feeling of the wind going against my fur from a brisk run (which, to someone with power like mine equates to about that of a speeding car down a highway) is nearly unparalleled. Only the sensation of flight on the Tornado or with my own two tails could match and exceed that.

I couldn't realize this thrill as I was hit with a rude awakening. As quickly as I dashed down the slope, I was stopped in my tracks when a large blunt object impacted my head. It hit with enough force not only to make me momentarily dizzy, but it also caused the rings I collected to fly out from my body and scatter in the ground beside me.

The Chaos Energy collected from rings escaped the user in one of two ways. It would filter out of the user naturally each minute after its collection; I estimated about five to seven rings worth of energy at this rate. The filtered energy mingled with the atmosphere and over time reforms again into rings in some other area. The other way was if the user was hit with a notable amount of force, causing it to wildly fly out of the user and reform back into rings for mere seconds before dispersing again in the air. How much rings' worth of energy lost depended on how much damage the user inflicted.

What I was hit with was far from the severest of injuries and sheer force I've been struck with in the past, but it was enough to knock out all eight rings I collected. I was unable to recover in time to recollect the lost rings, but was able to spot the offending object.

It was a coconut.

From the very same tree I had passed off moments before. And it didn't just fall from the tree: it was tossed at me from what appeared to have been a robotic monkey. A badnik. One of the practically countless varieties of robotic creations by Eggman meant to stop anyone in his path. Legions of them were deployed in the many zones in the world, and their presence here on this island meant that he already launched his plans to take over the place. Although I could have used this spotting as comfort that I can follow a clear path of these badniks to Eggman, I was too flustered from the simple fact that a _coconut_ of all things would cause me to lose all my rings already. And frankly I was still angry from the previous encounter with Knuckles.

Rather than destroy the badnik through traditional means – jumping onto while rolled into a ball – I instead picked up the coconut it threw at me and threw the fruit back at the robot with all my might. The coconut hit the badnik square in the face and with enough force to toss it out from its perch atop the tree and crash onto the ground, breaking into several pieces. I walked up to the wreckage to assure myself of its demise.

The surefire way of telling that a badnik had been truly defeated was from the small animal that popped out of it. Eggman's creations were often powered by 'small animals' – miniature species of various kinds – for their sensitivity to, and possession of Chaos Energy. Because of their small and defenseless nature, they were often captured by Eggman and put to work inside his many badniks. Once liberated from their robotic prisons, the small animals usually hopped off in freedom.

I saw no sight of any small animal, so my first thought was that it was still stuck inside somewhere. As I reached down to sift through the broken parts, a small blue bird darted out into the air. It was enough to nearly startle me, I stepped back a few paces as a result. The tiny bird had then perched on the disembodied head of the badnik it was once trapped in and give me an inquisitive stare.

This was a small animal I was quite familiar with: a Flicky. Flickies were tiny blue birds with fairly large heads, small yellow beaks, red cheeks, and a deep blue 'mask' by the eyes. Blue was the most common color, although Sonic once told of seeing many different colors and variations on a trip to a place called Flicky Island. Sonic stopped Eggman from using the island as an easy place to harvest these birds, but they are still pretty common around the world.

Although all small animals had some level of higher intelligence as compared to others, Flickies were particularly keen on the world around them. It was because of this and their mysterious ways that they were very storied; as a younger child I was told of tales of Flickies sharing close bonds with a person they chose to be worthy and always being at their side. Between that and Sonic's exaggerated stories of them usually following him (and actually keeping up with him at full speed!), it was hard to really discern fact from fiction, so I just brushed aside these tales.

What mattered to me was that this particular Flicky wasn't quite content with escaping and looked me over instead. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it; I thought that perhaps it had something to show me. When I went to approach the bird it fluttered its small wings and flew out of my reach. I didn't have any time to play with it; I let out a huff at this and started off on my way. I've destroyed countless badniks in the past and I never paid much attention as to where the small animals went after they had been freed.

But this Flicky was persistent. It flew into my view as I was about to collect three more rings on the quarter-circle slope. I did my part to grab the rings and stopped again at level ground above the slope. 'What could it want?' I thought as I shot a glare at the bird. It flew around in a circle and seemed to trace a path for me. It went straight ahead and sat atop a large, heavily cracked rock, almost as tall as I. After giving a wave it flew up again and over a nearby coconut tree, where it sat atop a leaf and waved again. After that it took to the air once more, up and over me. It seemed to have landed in a niche far above me, well over my head and covered by huge leaves and vines.

Now I was sure it had something to show me. I could have just flown up to the niche instead of follow the path it showed, however I have learned from my past adventure with Sonic that it was wise to save my strength. My tails were well tempered from years of using them excessively for a variety of purposes (and very strong because of my Chaos Energy), but they still tired me out if I used them too much.

I jogged down a few steps and leaped into the air to land on the rock. My mind flashed courses of action in just a split second and the moment I was to land on the rock I knew to leap up onto the tree. However the rock was more fragile than expected and crumbled under my weight. It broke apart into four large pieces that bounced across the ground. Instead of landing on the grass below, I was instantly bounded upwards, having no time to look down at what was below me.

But I knew what it was from the very distinct sound, a 'boing'. A spring launcher. They were all over the place whenever Eggman was around. I had never understood the purpose of scattering these around ad hoc; usually they would benefit Sonic and I by taking us to higher ground. I suppose that there were instances in the past where they became a hindrance. I had heard about how Spring Yard Zone was stockpiled full of them which made it hard for Sonic to move around without being thrown in some random direction.

Being caught off guard, I was tumbled up in the air. I became well-trained in using these springs so I knew the first step was to let myself bounce off it again to get my bearings; wildly spinning the air prevented me from controlling my direction in the air, much less see where I was going. I felt my feet landing on the surface of the spring and instantly launched myself back up in the air. I assumed the proper position for these springs: arms kept to the sides and down as close to the body as possible, legs close together and as fully extended as possible, tails straight down and the head kept looking straight upwards.

A split second after being sprung upwards, my eyes darted to the coconut tree. Instantly my mind processed all the information I need to see, leaving the rest of the world around the tree a blur. It was a hidden spring launcher atop the coconut tree. The sudden revelation made me aim for the top of the tree, but already my mind was looking past that as I was just halfway there. 'What else was ahead of me?' my mind thought, quickly processing faster than Sonic's top speed. The wealth of experience from lightning quick speeds trained myself into having extremely fast thought processes and reflexes. The ability to see what was ahead of me well before getting there while going at top speeds was no easy task. It gave me the ability to think well ahead and plan a course of action through the world's many labyrinthine zones.

I reached the apex of my launch and as I was about to land atop the hidden spring launcher, my eyes picked up another important object: a floating platform. A small earthen platform, having its own patch of grass atop was moving up and down by some unexplained force (equally unexplained is how it managed to float). I always assumed this was some sort of Chaos Energy; the world was teeming with it! Despite their small sizes, they were quite stable and many a time I leaped from one to another. Sometimes they were the only stable ground to stand on amid long, seemingly bottomless pits.

I bounded off the spring launcher and aimed myself for the platform. As I set myself in position, I could see that this indeed lead to the niche above. I didn't spot the Flicky, so maybe it was further in or possibly flew off. Upon landing feet first on the platform, I took a small breather. Normally I didn't have much time to catch my breath over quick bursts of action; I came to learn back then it was a luxury. But I was simply out of practice and I needed to get back in the swing of things. I let the platform carry me up to the cliff and hopped off it once it reached the top.

Ahead of me was the Flicky from before, standing on what appeared to be two television monitors. Behind them was a wall of overgrowth and extended upwards and around me. To my right I could see the deep blue sky with some occasional cloud cover and the vast jungles before me. The vast blue sea could be seen and sparkled under the sunlight, its waters calm. Turning back to the monitors I saw the small Flicky wave to me with a wing and with a simple chirp. It fluttered its wings and took to the air once more, circling around me once before flying away with another chirp. I had to smile at that; it was very helpful of the Flicky to direct me to these monitors. Most small animals I gave no care about and they didn't really care much for me either aside from just being freed from their badnik prisons, so it was a pleasant surprise that this one went out of its way to show me something.

The monitors before me had two simple pictures on them: one had a picture of a ring; another carried the picture of a sneaker very similar in design to Sonic's. They weren't really actual monitors. It was unusual enough for these things to be around the zones in the world and well removed from any plug socket. Instead, they were manifestations of Chaos Energy. Another benefit people like me was the fact they were able to be harnessed and seen. Unlike rings, these manifestations take the form of whatever strikes the subconscious of the user; it was a random object. To me and Sonic they appeared as television monitors. Very peculiar, I always wondered, but not really something I wished to investigate further (although I noticed these monitors appeared to be white and more contemporary in design, a better sight for the eyes as compared to the old gray boxes). All I cared about was what was inside the monitors.

The contents of the monitors varied and small pictures on the screens of them displayed what they had inside. Much like rings, monitors were invaluable but they were rarer than rings and had more beneficial effects. Obtaining the contents meant destroying the monitor. The usual means was rolling into it or jumping onto it while curled into a ball. For this instance I simply batted my tails through the first monitor, breaking it open. Amid a small burst of 'parts', the picture of a ring rose up in the air and I felt its power instantly enter my body.

I called the monitors with ring pictures on them as 'Super Rings' monitors. They procured about the same energy as 10 rings. They were the most common which led me to believe that Chaos Energy would often 'lump' together into these, given the vast supply of rings one could find. The Super Rings monitor did the trick in healing my wounds completely; even the bruise on my head was gone mere moments after breaking apart the monitor. That left the other monitor.

Speed Sneakers. Rare indeed! They offered an intense jolt of energy for a brief period of time, which translated into a running speed increased several times over. Sonic would break these open without a second thought and leave me behind. Breaking open one of these monitors meant bringing a risk. Running fast, but at what cost? What hazards lay ahead that would catch an unsuspecting speedster? I turned behind me and looked down from the foot of the cliff to check my surroundings.

Ahead of me was a fork in the road, so to speak. A floating rock formation gave way to a top half, but its path was mostly obscured by a low laying 'ceiling' of more floating rock. The floating rock was brown, and looked somewhat like a stony bark. With the dense growth of tall leaves and vines, it gave an impression of a thick mass of trees. Down below, shortly after the hidden spring launcher from underneath the rock was a small 'step' of earth, above which was a not-so-aptly hidden spring launcher. It was facing the other way, likely meant to push me back the opposite direction. Some of Eggman's 'traps' were very childish in design; it was almost insulting to see it placed there. Beyond that there was another coconut tree and a gentle slope leading up a path directly under the floating rock formation.

The left and right were not options to go. The whole place itself felt like a natural, plant-laden aerial highway. Going forward or backwards were my only options, lest I wanted to explore the intensely deep jungles beyond. Given my venture cutting through the densely overgrown greenery before, it didn't seem like a very attractive option to me. The paths before me were certainly wide enough to comfortably move around on, but the whole place forced me to move in two dimensions. It was certainly disorienting to an unsuspecting individual, but I was well-seasoned in this type of layout.

'Pretty easy,' I said to myself 'I break the monitor and make a dash to the path below.' It was the safest option in my opinion, as I was able to at least see more of the bottom path than the upper one. I positioned myself in front of the monitor and took a three-point stance. With my tails held high, I timed the movements of the platform shortly after the cliff's edge. I counted down three seconds.

Two seconds.

One second.

My tails crashed through the monitor behind me and I broke into a dash the very second I felt its effects. My body felt electrified! Not only four steps taken ahead and I felt myself nearly matching my top speed. I had to heighten my sense of awareness to intense proportions to wield this awesome speed; I timed my dash at the perfect time to run off the edge and onto the floating platform.

My mind had it mapped it all too quickly: after running off the edge cliff and then off the platform, the acceleration offered from the Speed Sneakers monitor would be enough to shoot me off the edge and just beyond the opposite-facing spring launcher to the hill above. As I darted up the hill I saw ahead of two sets of spikes, with rows of four each. Spikes were another common trap set up by Eggman, meant to discourage running at high speeds and possibly to impale us. It depended on where he placed them, although like his spring launchers, he sometimes had a knack for just placing them in random spots.

Again, it didn't seem very hard. By now I was already attaining speeds topping a hundred or so miles per hour and I hadn't even kicked into 'second gear'. Jumping over the spikes would be done leaping into the air at the apex of the slope ahead of me. But as quickly as I laid out my plan, it was foiled: I tumbled into the air the moment I sprang from the ground from something in my way. The force was enough to send me sailing over the spikes, but it also made me lose all my rings again. I landed flat on my stomach at the edge of a cliff. I felt the wind knocked out of me and I struggled to breathe again for a few fleeting seconds.

Ahead of me I saw the cause of the tumble: another badnik. This one was designed like a miniature rhinoceros except it eschewed the use of legs and instead moved around on a single large tire. Eggman's designs continued to baffle me. How could something on a single tire maneuver so efficiently? It locked its robotic eyes to mine and started to charge at me, swerving across the sets of spikes ahead of me like it were an easy slalom.

I still had the effects of the Speed Sneakers power up, if only for a few more seconds. I took advantage of this to quickly get to my feet and charge at him too. I sped around the first set of spikes and met to clash with it in the middle, where I rolled into a ball head on. The satisfying sound of broken parts filled my ears as I uncurled and skidded to a stop before the other set of spikes. Pain shot through my body the moment I felt the energy inside from the Speed Sneakers left. That fall had done more than ten rings worth of damage, that was for sure.

While still being held, rings completely protected me from most manners of attacks and injury. But the nature of the attack I measured by its worth in rings. A simple cut or laceration from a brush with a spike would deal a few rings worth of damage, which left me to carry more rings inside. Injuries of a more severe nature would cause me to lose more rings. If I was dealt more rings' worth of damage than rings I had inside me, my body would take the difference's worth.

That fall had to have been at least twenty rings worth and I had sixteen on me, which explained the sensation of pain all around me. I didn't have any cuts on me upon inspecting myself, but I figured to have had some bruises all around. I cursed myself again. Things weren't going my way and I didn't like it one bit! It was one thing for badniks to gang up on me or to overpower me fair and square, but it was simply unacceptable to myself to had gone off to such a bad start by making bonehead mistakes.

Perhaps they wouldn't seem as such to another person. I was already well above the average person in physical skill and at half the height of an average human. The tricks I picked up and learned over the past two years would have taken decades to master to others. The standards I set for myself were abnormally high at times as a result of my knack to learning quickly (often by rote) and my wealth of Chaos-based powers. I literally saved the world from certain domination with the help of Sonic not too long ago, after all.

Setting the bar so high was sometimes frowned upon from Sonic. But Sonic was so fortunate, he didn't really care anything yet he had still handled Eggman twice before with a hand behind his back. I didn't have that ability: I learned what I needed to at a faster pace than him, and all throughout my past adventure. That was what set myself apart from him; I grew up faster. Maybe I still wasn't any match for Sonic's famous top speeds, but I was on par with several of his other abilities.

Those thoughts actually made me feel better. 'If I'm going to be angry every time I so much as trip, I might as well turn back now', I said to myself. 'I can do this, I've learned from my mistakes before. I can do this again here.' It wasn't just that, though. What I didn't catch at that moment was the very notion of the potential to equal or succeed Sonic was enough to lift my spirits.

I brushed off some dirt from my arms and jogged down to the edge of the path before me. There was a cliff ahead that offered a good view of what lay before me. Directly ahead were three vines that swung back and forth. At the ends of these yellowed vines were small rods tied to the end. It appeared as if they were meant to support hands. Further supported by the fact the vines were so close it looked as if this was meant to be a means of getting onto another road at the other side, suspended in air like the path directly above my position.

Down below wasn't a pit (and I was thankful for this, as in times past this seemed to be commonplace) but rather another coconut tree and two spring launchers on steep 'steps' of land, both facing the opposite direction. Another badnik, the same model of coconut-throwing monkeys from before, was waiting at the top. It spotted me but remained at its post at the top with a coconut in hand. I suspected that it was waiting for me to either go below or toss a coconut at me while swinging from the vines above.

Before I had a chance to plan, however, the ground from under me began to crumble and fall. Using my reflexes I jumped off the falling ground before it had a chance to fall a few inches down and aimed for the swinging vine ahead of me. It swung back just as I had reached out to grab it but this time I look down below me and quickly scanned for what was going to happen below.

Sure enough, the badnik was aiming for me and tossed his round. This time I was prepared for it and twirled myself around to bat my tails at the coconut. It sent the fruit flying back to the badnik and busted the fruit clear through its chest. I landed on both feet and watched the felled badnik land on the ground and a tiny white chicken pop out. A Kucky, they were called. They were another in the fairly diverse class of small animals that Eggman imprisons inside his robots. I admit that I half-expected this Kucky to also offer a helping hand to me, but this one simply hopped off. I suppose I couldn't expect them all to really do anything for me, but it would have been nice, I thought. It wasn't worth my time to check up on every small animal I freed anyway. Hordes of badniks about meant an equal amount of the little animals about.

Up ahead of me was another large incline and two steps of land, on each were spring launchers pointing the other way. More importantly there were four rings on the incline; the pain around my body still lingered from the collision above so they were a welcome sight. I ran up the hill and took all four of them and leaped up at the peak of incline to jump over the first of two steps in front of me. I took another high leap to cross the next two; this required me to roll into a ball. Sonic and I (and likely this Knuckles person) had the ability to jump several times our own height. A rough estimation on my part put it to about eleven and a half feet with my jumping ability on par with Sonic's (I noted to myself once that I may actually jump higher than Sonic, but he never seemed to believe me). Rolling into a ball spun around the Chaos Energy inside me, which in turn boosted my jumping height. The highest leaps were those made in this manner, even though by jumping normally I can still reach about five to seven feet in the air.

It was one of the most common risks I took: Sonic was able to see where he was going while rolling around as a ball but I still couldn't. It required me to take a quick 'snapshot' of what was ahead of me and go by that mentally when jumping around in the direction of my choosing until I was able to uncurl myself and land. I was able to get by easily in the past since I simply followed his lead but I was alone this time and had to be more careful.

The jump I took was simple enough, I didn't even need to see. It was, however, a good chance to start trying to focus my vision while in a ball. I sprung from the ground and went into my ball form, but this time opened my eyes. The view around me was very literally a blur! It was too much, too fast to discern anything and I had no idea which way was forward or backward. All I could see was a sea of green, brown, and orange (likely my own tails). Upon landing my sight had to momentarily readjust itself before the view before cleared up. I landed on the top of the step and ahead find another tall rock. Above me was one of the swinging vines from before.

I wasn't satisfied with taking leaps of faith, even if I did precautions beforehand. I mentally noted to myself to keep my eyes open while rolled up. My level of confidence was pretty high that I could master this soon; I just hoped that it would happen sooner rather than later. I didn't want to end up getting seriously hurt from a botched jump, after all.

I walked up to the rock and climbed atop it. This one didn't crumble under my weight, although it still looked fairly fragile. Above me was a higher track of land from before. The last of the three swinging vines was above me and well within my jumping distance. 'But wait!' I said to myself, I looked ahead and let out a grin and wagged my tails with joy.

It was a vertical loop straight ahead of me down a hill.

Sonic called them loop-de-loops or shuttle loops. Regardless of the moniker they were indeed continuously upward-sloping sections of track that form a complete 360 circle. Commonly in rollercoasters, it was similar in principle to simply run through it at high speeds. Gravity worked in opposition to slow the ascent up to the very top and then kicked in beyond that point to help pull one down for the descent. The greatest force was applied at the bottom and often the loops encountered were nearly or completely circular which meant a more intense application of G-forces (as opposed to a tear-shaped loop from a rollercoaster).

I was able to withstand a large amount of G's, several times more than the average person. This resistance allowed Sonic and I to reach dizzying heights and attain incredible running speeds without incurring any excessive physical fatigue. The Chaos Energy inside me worked to stabilize my body consistently such as blood flow and internal structures. This enabled me to perform many athletic feats that were simply impossible otherwise.

This particular loop seemed to be holding up the track above me and I spotted five rings floating along the track in a tighter circle, well within my grasp. I could have simply taken the vine up and continue above, but I simply did _not_ want to turn down an opportunity to run through a loop. I kept my wide grin and hopped off the rock in front of me and began to break into a dash. After I attained a speed around eighty or so miles per hour, I started to whirl my tails behind me to give me a boost in speed.

This was the bulk of my 'running' ability. To even come close to Sonic meant using my powerful tails to propel myself forward. I rose my feet up so that only my toes skimmed the ground (a big reason why the tips of my shoes were made of extremely durable materials to handle the friction) and kept my arms tucked close to my sides. My tails would literally become as blades: the vast concentration of Chaos Energy on them would reform them and change their very structure down to the molecular level. This in turn allowed me to attain my trademark ability of flight, akin to a helicopter. In actuality the tails didn't spin like a classic helicopter, but rather used contra-rotation. Each tail spun in opposing directions which counted the torque issue from a traditional propeller and prevented my body to gain a tendency to spin. This let me skim a surface with my tails spinning behind me and shoot across the ground at top speeds of roughly 250 miles per hour, slightly faster than a standard Formula One race car. Sonic's speeds usually topped at 350 miles per hour or so, but that was in desirable conditions (more precisely, a flat plane). 'Subsonic' would have been a more suitable name for the hedgehog; only by turning Super could he break the speed of sound.

Even in a casual sprint I can feel the rush of wind against my fur and at full speed I hit the start of the upwards slope of the loop. Running past each of the rings I encircled the loop and let myself feel the G's force myself down at the very bottom. It was exhilarating! The feeling of such a force pulling me down was the best part, bar none. It may be that the world around me raced around my line of sight in a sea of colors or the pleasing sound of my tails whirring at such a high velocity behind me that could tickle my fancy but nothing felt better than the laws of physics bestowing upon me a wonderful gift in sheer G's. I could only count with a hand the people in the world that would find a state of near bliss in this way.

Through my moment of pleasure I spotted ahead of me a ramp and a large pool of water from a giant waterfall far above. The ramp was smoothed out rock and had a fairly sizable twist before the tip of it. At my rate of speed I'd be sent flying in a spiral all the way to the other side of the pool. And that was just _perfect_.

Down the hill I went at breakneck speeds and I slowed my tails down to a stop before leaving the ramp to stabilize my trajectory (keeping them spinning while twirling around in the air would have been disastrous). The other end of the pool was on higher ground and I could tell from the midst of my launch that I couldn't reach the other side. Quickly I turned my eyes down and I could see through the crystal clear water a spring launcher at the very end of the pool.

It could not have been placed in a better position! I landed into the water feet first with a large splash and let the spring launcher take me up. The intense rush from the dash before suddenly ceased and instead was replaced by a quick rise up out of the water and into the air. I didn't tuck my arms to my sides like before as I had quickly caught notice of another swinging vine overhead mere moments before touching the spring launcher. My arms reached out as I gained more height and both grabbed onto the rod below to hang on.

The vine had just been swinging back and was about to go forwards again. Still very much on an adrenaline high I instantly leaped off it and curled into a ball as just milliseconds after grabbing the edge I saw another monkey badnik on a nearby tree. I barreled through it with ease and landed on the ground below. Ahead of me was another short, acute slope above which was a large step of land, roughly three times my height. This required another jump while in ball form, which I took easily and landed handily on the top.

Another crumbling rock was seen ahead of me (I wondered about the large amounts of fragile rock around there, yet the 'highway' kept afloat in these jungles were as strong as ever) and beyond that were two sets of spikes. These spikes were slightly different from the rest: they moved up and down at set patterns from the ground. One set was on the ceiling of the track above me, hidden among the dense overgrowth. The other set was on the ground a few inches ahead, both set to alternate between exposure and hiding. Yet another painfully simple pattern! I simply leaped from the rock and beyond the floorbound spikes. Instantly I was caught by surprise once I landed; a force from behind pushed me forward at high speeds. As quickly as I could get some footing, I twirled my tails and once again reached my peak speeds.

From the sound I heard it was definitely a spring launcher, but it had such a kick! It must have been a red-colored one. They were much stronger than the yellow ones I had encountered thus far and I had seen the effects of both varieties from my last adventure with Sonic. When set pointing up, spring launchers set one up in the air. To its side, spring launchers pushed one forward at considerable speeds. It was like an instant acceleration boost that Sonic and I would use to our advantage if necessary.

As the view rushed past I could see the track taking a sharp slope upwards into a complete vertical ascent against a rocky wall. It led me straight up and beyond the long downward hill of floating rock above, the same higher track from before. I grabbed six rings along the way, three shortly before the slope and three in a row against the wall. As I propelled myself straight up I could see that the path merged with the same one from above and led right into another vertical loop. Five rings led the way around the loop and I graciously followed them around and down a slope in my new path.

Five more rings waited for me and I collected them with ease as I went down the hill. Before me was a massive tree that appeared to have been hollowed out. Racing through the large 'doorway' at the base of the trunk I saw that the base outline around the inside was smoothed out to make concave ramps all around, creating a 'bowl' of sorts like a halfpipe. I diverted my direction slightly, I knew what to do in a moment's time. By hitting a ramp at an angle I would spiral upward across the inside of the tree. I kept my tails at full spin as I ascended around and around. It was another moment of breakneck velocity and seeing the view spiral around fascinated me! As I continued to climb up the tree I could see another doorway carved out that would lead me out. I had climbed up the tree just the right way to dash straight out of it and ahead to wherever it took me.

Once I had spiraled higher I saw that the doorway led outside to higher ground where more tall, wet grass paved the way ahead. I rocketed out of the doorway into the world outside. My sheer speed made me fly past two more steps of ground and lead me to a clearing above. The view of the jungles to my sides was gone, replaced by high rocky cliffs and distant waterfalls with water pouring down. Beyond the cliffs the sea could be seen and clear blue skies.

My ears twitched. I heard something. I had very capable hearing and was able to discern sounds even beyond the sound of my propeller-like tails. I quickly ceased the rotation of my tails and skidded to a stop. It took me a short distance to skid to a complete stop after having gained maximum speed; only a few short feet was a miracle really, as opposed to being sent flying much farther. I knew for as long as possible that my body was completely different from my peers in many ways and I took some pride in that. That included not skidding several yards away into a wall every time I hit top speed.

The sound was faint but familiar. Thrusters. I looked all around to find the source; thrusters like what I heard meant that something big was on the way. Eggman's larger and more elaborate creations usually had some capability to float in the air as he had a personal preference to aerial maneuverability. I looked behind me and instantly ducked for cover as a large spherical drone sped past me. I quickly got to my feet and looked upon it.

It hovered in the air in front of me and sure enough it had three thrusters on its bottom keeping it afloat. It was mostly spherical as was typical of Eggman's designs and this preference made sense given his name (and his body shape for the most part). On the front it had a large nozzle; the two exposed fuel cells on the sides could confirm to me this was a large flamethrower. On the front of the orb was a straight metal extension that jutted out from the front. This likely contained various sensors and a camera system which led me to believe that Eggman was not personally piloting this. On the top were three tubes covered with lids at the top. That meant it probably had missiles of some sort.

That meant…

Before I came to my ultimate conclusion the sounds of more thrusters filled my ears. To my left I looked in awe as a whole swarm of these large badniks filled the area. I hastily turned back to the one in front of me after hearing the sound of the lids opening. Suddenly it fired several projectiles into the air. My eyes widened when I realized that they weren't missiles. They were incendiary bombs.

I ran for what cover I could find as the bombs rained upon the ground. The drones all around me followed suit and napalmed the scenery around me. Tall plumes of fire sprang into the air and the pleasant sounds of wildlife and waterfalls were quickly replaced by roaring fires and crackling wood. Raging fires blocked the path behind me as the tall hollowed out tree quickly burned to the ground. The entire jungle was fuel for a firestorm. I turned back to the drone ahead of me which simply hovered away into the jungle, its job done.

I was left stunned. This was…horrifying.

Plenty of times in the past I had seen the aftereffects of Eggman's destruction and even places that have yet to see his wrath. But never before did I actually see Eggman commit such acts in person. It was senseless! He had his badniks and traps laid out already and now he decided to torch the place down to the ground. The ruination of nature for what cause? What purpose? 'Why?' I asked myself over and over. It was simply chaos for chaos's sake. The sign of a true madman. It was one of the worst sights I had ever seen in my life.

My mind filled with anger. He could _not_ get away with this. Now more than ever I felt the need to put him to justice. If Sonic wasn't going to be around to stop him then it was up to _me_. I could picture him in my mind simply laughing maniacally as his twisted deed was carried out. The image taunted me, it was as if he was laughing at my inability to stop what had just happened. I clenched my fists tight and tried my hardest not to let rage get the best of me. I had to _focus_. I had to find Eggman and put him to justice once and for all. 'Whether I have all the emeralds in hand or not, I will find a way to stop him.' I told myself. My plan realigned itself: Eggman was now the first priority yet again.

I broke into a dash down the grassy road before me. Eggman _had_ to be around the jungles somewhere. He always wanted to lay witness to his own grand schemes. This vain trait was his weakness; he always left himself open for attack. I had to use the same plan as before: follow the trail of badniks. Straight ahead was a wall on top of which was the rest of the track ahead. Something was atop it as I ran down the road, it looked very familiar.

I jumped up as a ball and tried to see ahead of me. Through the blur of the world around me in 360 degrees, I could see something gray and red in the middle of all the fiery orange. It wasn't quite helpful to see, my vision still a mess while in a ball, but I heard something familiar. It was a mechanical whirring and a low pitched chime. Upon landing I uncurled and looked behind me. It was a Lamp Post. They were of a design completely foreign to me and definitely not any of Eggman's creations. They had a simple metallic base and a long pole which pivoted around in a circle when rushed past. The tip of the pole was a round lamp, a white star was featured in the center and the outline of the lamp flashed red and yellow.

In the past, having enough rings' worth of Chaos Energy inside when passing through them would open a gate into a surreal world called a 'Special Stage' where the Chaos Emeralds would lay in waiting at the end of a long series of halfpipes. I looked up at the tip of the post (almost twice my height) but saw no rotating sparkles: no gate to a Special Stage. I was sure that I had enough rings to gain passage, but I stopped myself upon remembering what Sonic once told me about Special Stages: they never were the same. He told me in the past before I joined up with him that Special Stages required entry through large 'Ring Gates' which resembled giant rings.

This led me to deduce that each time the Chaos Emeralds scattered, they had to be collected in different ways and through a different passage to reach them. I sighed a bit as I decided to run past the Lamp Post into the small cavern ahead. If entry wouldn't be gained from running through Lamp Posts, I had to find another way to acquire the Chaos Emeralds. I had no clues to work with other than to be weary of any large gates or sources of Chaos Energy around.

The cavern ahead of me appeared to have been created by man. The floor of the ground smoothed out into a floor and small torches were added along the walls in groups of four to light up the area. I was greeted by a trap right away: a set of spikes jutting down from the ceiling. Fortunately I was small enough to simply go under them (if not just barely) and down a small ramp which had three rings on it. Beyond the ramp was a hole leading downward (hopefully not a pit) and on the other side of the hole were several sets of spring launchers placed along the floor and ceiling. They seemed to 'block' the way out of the cavern to a clearing ahead, the sound of rushing water led me to believe it was a waterfall ahead.

Fortunately these spring launchers were in a flawed position and I simply ran down the ramp and put my tails in a twirl to give me enough speed to fly off the edge and onto the other side without touching the springs at all. The springs were probably there to fool someone into jumping which would force them to spring up and down from ceiling to floor.

Down the path to the waterfall I jumped over another large rock onto a cliff over the waterfall. I heard the ground begin to crumble and I leaped off in time before I could fall to the pool of water below. Shortly before I curled into a ball I could see a row of three rings and I aimed for those as I jumped off and landed on the ground before it too began to crumble. I quickly ran off it down another hill which had three rings on it and jumped up another step of land.

Above me I saw a different model of badnik. It was a giant floating worm, its body consisted entirely of connected spheres and it snaked its way around the air. It would have been completely vulnerable had it not been for its peculiar defense mechanism. Along its body were charges of energy that ran across the head all the way to its tail. It appeared to be an invisible charge but light reflecting off it revealed its range as it moved itself in the air: its small head was left completely open. I performed a backflip as it wiggled ahead at me and extended my tails as I flipped in the air to bat them at its head.

The badnik's head flew off and the rest of the body fall apart, each spherical part bounced around the ground and the Flicky trapped inside flew away in freedom. Ahead of me was yet another waterfall ('Where did all this water come from? Where did it lead to?' I thought to myself) but this time overhead I saw a swinging vine with a rod at the end like before but attached to a rope that went all the way down to the other side. It was a makeshift zip-line more or less. What's more, there were rings floating overhead so I didn't see any reason not to try it out.

I jumped up into the air and grabbed hold of the pulley as gravity started my descent. As I coasted down the line I saw that it ended with the rope tied to a coconut tree. The tips of its leaves were burning with fire but fortunately the trunk and bark stood intact. Rings encircled the tree and I realized that after the rope had reached the end that I was thrown around in a circle while still holding onto the pulley. The line would likely snap if I continued to hold on while letting it take another revolution so I leaped off with momentum and reached for the top of a vertical loop.

The loop, like the others before, was constructed of the bark-like stone seen in many places around the jungle. The top of it was flat and had several plants growing from it that easily overtook my height. None of them yet succumbed to the raging fires around me. It appeared as if the highway I was on was somewhat spared from the flames, but the thick of the jungle was still burning. At this point the air started to get drier and warmer. I began to see the heat rising in the air, an inferior mirage formed as the area around me seemed to distort in waves slightly.

At the other side I noticed a monitor hidden in the brush. Naturally unaffected (these monitors always looked untouched), this one flashed a different kind of image on the screen, one I haven't seen before. It looked like a lightning bolt. Electricity was probably a power I didn't need at the moment, but I was curious about this new design. I popped open the monitor and instantly I became surrounded by an electrical discharge. It was a round shield but it has the properties of plasma.

I looked down at my feet when I noticed some Chaos Energy enter my body. Looking down I saw another ring from the loop below slowly creep towards me as if it were magnetized. This was strange as rings weren't made of any actual metal: they were simply visual representations of acquirable Chaos Energy. Seeing how this functioned like the shields I had acquired before, I could assume this was simply Chaos Energy mixed with plasma which probably created the magnetic effects on rings and only rings.

I had collected many shields in the past with Sonic. Shields were external applications of Chaos Energy. Being hit by a sort of force would cause the shield to disappear (and give the user some kickback depending on the nature of the blow), but it prevented any bodily harm in the process. The problem with shields was that the nature of the Chaos Energy was somewhat volatile; although they protected me from many strong hits, even a weak force that wouldn't normally cause much damage would still be enough to make the shield disappear. Basically it was good for one hit. The presence of this plasma shield led me to wonder if other 'elemental' shields were around. I could only hope to find them as I came across them but I was under no time to really search for and study these shields.

I ran forward and off the top of the vertical loop. A floating platform was at the end, against a large wall from an overhead floating rock formation. I stepped on it and it took me down to the base of the loop where I leapt off and onto the ground below. Three more rings from above became attracted to my new shield and I grabbed each of them. I stopped to look at my left and see the formerly lush rainforest now an ocean of fire. Green and brown were gone and replaced by reds and oranges. Small flames were already seen on some of the plants that crept along the highway I was on. It was only a matter of time before the ground I was on would burn: I had to make haste.

I jumped off a large step and landed below where I caught the sight of a Super Rings monitor behind me. I bashed it open with my tails and started down a slope in front of me. There was a wall ahead, mostly held up by large rocks, some of them crumbling. At the end of the slope I was thrown into the air with another 'boing', a hidden spring launcher on the ground. I landed on a cliff above which had a tall grouping of rocks put together in a pile. This appeared to have been stable and so I climbed atop it and looked up. Two cliffs jutted out from either side and spikes were placed along the walls. The cliffs looked fragile much like the previous ones I had encountered. Looking up to my left I saw that it lead to another niche. I was too close to the wall to see what was to my right but the familiar sound of thrusters in that direction led me to believe that spherical flamethrower was back.

I made the choice to go that way and this time I took flight. The ability to fly using my tails was of a similar function to using them during my 'running'. They became as blades when spun with great speed and if I took to the air while keeping them spinning I was very much a living helicopter (running on coaxial contra-rotating propellers no less). The ability to fly in this manner took more fatigue out of me than simply using my tails for a speed boost while running, so my time in the air was limited. While in flight I kept my feet and arms dangling to keep my back flat in the air. Moving forward while flying meant that I had to raise my back to put my spinning tails slightly behind me to give me movement forward. To turn around while flying I would have to tilt my body around in that direction, again much like a helicopter. I was self-taught to fly in this way and over the years since I learned I have become an expert at this truly unique method of flight.

Fortunately the cliff ahead was not terribly high so it took only a brief rise above to reach the cliff above. It was going to crumble and I felt it beginning to so I ran off the cliff and onto a gentle slope leading down into a clearing. Three more rings awaited me (at this point I had collected over seventy) and two tall coconut trees lined the path. They had just caught fire: the leaves atop started to collect flames and two more small fires started on the trunks of each. The sound of thrusters drew louder and louder. I looked up and saw that spherical flamethrower descend from above.

The camera above the nozzle caught sight of me and a light above it flashed red. This time I was the target. I backpedaled a little to give myself some distance between it and me. It hovered down to my level and started to approach me. Fire spouted from the nozzle in front and sprayed ahead. I quickly ducked from the attack and rolled into a ball further back. I uncurled and knelt on the ground, looking up at the flying mechanical orb. I had to damage its fuel cells which contained the napalm inside but I had to be weary of the incendiaries it had loaded and the flamethrower up front. This plasma shield I had with me offered no protection from flames so I considered it as simply a 'free hit point'.

I ran forward and jumped into the air while rolled into a ball. This was the preferred method of damaging the larger badniks (Sonic called them 'minibosses') but while it was easy for Sonic, it became risky for me. If only I could see clearly! I planned my trajectory mere moments before jumping but I left it up to my calculations to see if I could land the hit. I bounded off the metallic hide which confirmed my hit. I uncurled shortly before landing on the other side.

The 'miniboss' whirled around and sprayed more flames at me, this time aiming the nozzle lower to my chest. I had little time to react as I had just uncurled and was forced to take the hit. I was knocked back to the ground and tumbled on the dry, dead grass with my plasma shield gone. I had to rely on what rings I still had in me now. How could that giant metal ball move with such agility?

I saw that the hit was just to the side of the camera, but a clear miss from the fuel cell. The flamethrower hovered up high up into the air and moved back from me. 'What was it doing?' I said to myself. The sound of the hatches on the back answered my question. The bombs! I held back from intercepting it in the air: using my tails while in flight could rip apart a great deal of things, but the thrusters being placed directly under it prevented that option.

The large badnik fired off three bombs high into the air, one from each hatch. I craned my neck in the air to predict their movements and quickly ran back to my right. One of the bombs landed inches from the tallest of the two coconut trees and engulfed it in fire. Another landed just near where I was formerly standing. The other spiraled in the air and was headed straight for me. I couldn't move back any further, a wall was to my right. I had to jump out of the way, but it landed about a yard from me and exploded in fire. I took the hit from the front as I attempted to dive forward out of the way and scores of rings scattered from me. That had to be nearly all my rings! I hastily retrieved as many as I could but could only recover several of what had been possibly forty or fifty rings.

Turning back I found the badnik had hovered to my level and was approaching me again. A frontal attack was too risky as it could spray its flamethrower at any time and it was hovering too low for me to roll underneath it (and its thrusters still firing would have burnt me anyway). The ground was on was not wide enough to offer much room to move around, either. The gears in my mind churned quickly to formulate some sort of plan. I took a quick glance at the position of the nozzle: it was straight ahead. The spray of fire it would put out would be high enough so that I could roll or slide under. Perfect!

I ran forward at the miniboss and waited for the moment it would fire its flamethrower at me. The moment I saw a flicker from the nozzle I slid feet first on the grass, barely avoiding the burst of fire. I twirled around while on the ground and swung my tails at its underside just below the nozzle. It left a very large dent below, but left the nozzle intact. I rolled backward to avoid a possible counterattack and I uncurled to see its next action. It was going to ram into me! I saw it charge after me with surprising speed. Again I charged after it but this time grabbed onto the nozzle (how reckless of me!) and sprang onto the badnik and jumped off it and around to the other side. The orb spun around in confusion and I ran back at it again and jumped into while rolled into a ball. I bounded off it and landed back to the other direction I was in. 'Definitely a Sonic move' I said to myself with a smirk.

The smirk changed into a grin: I had collided with one of the bomb chutes and damaged it beyond repair. The orb quickly gathered its bearings and opened the other two bomb chutes and began firing more bombs into the air. Quickly I turned up to the air to see where they were headed but I was just as quickly burned from the flamethrower while I wasn't paying attention! All the rings I had poured out of me and I stumbled back. The two bombs it fired into the air landed harmlessly on the ground beside me. Duds.

'A trick?!' I clutched my chest in pain. I wasn't burned yet but with all my rings gone my body was now vulnerable to whatever it tossed at me. I didn't think the AI in this miniboss would be so smart enough to pull off a trick like that. Eggman definitely had to be controlling this one from afar. I backpedaled again and left myself a safe distance from the range of its flamethrower. It was so simple to just aim for the fuel cells but already it became such a hassle and already I lost my shield and all my rings. I waited for its next move.

It took to the air again and opened the hatches to fire off more rounds (how many did it have inside?), four of them I saw. Each of the rounds landed very close around itself and it fired its flamethrower ahead. It effectively nulled any chance to charge at it, a defensive maneuver. I may have been foolish enough to do a head on strike before but I didn't intend on doing another. It probably expected me to make another mistake. But it still was a mulligan, I was left back to plan another attack. My eyes darted to the right where I saw the two trees. The one hit from the nearby bomb explosion had fallen off the track was on and into the fiery depths of the jungle below. The other was still standing, although it looked as if it would succumb to the intense flames and fall shortly.

The miniboss again approached me and I stepped back (I was mindful of the duds still laying on the ground) further, luring it back. I charged at it again to provoke it into firing its flamethrower. After the expected spray of fire I slid under the flames again and sliced my tails through the trunk of the extremely weakened tree beside me. I quickly crawled out of the way and looked up as I saw the tree fall down and onto the top of the badnik. The force it pushed it all the way down to the ground and completely damaged the bomb chutes. What was more, it landed on top of the duds! They both exploded and the entire mechanical orb was swallowed in flames and set off a series of explosions. I ran back for cover to avoid the flying parts and flames.

I threw a fist to the air in victory. Not an easy victory but it was the first of what I projected to be many in stopping Eggman once and for all. There was still the possibility that more of these would be around the jungle but frankly I didn't care. I had motivation, I had confidence, I had the ability, everything was going to go my way, I thought to myself. I turned ahead to me to the wall. Although the wall seemed to have blocked my path, a good portion of it had crumbled rock. I walked up to it and batted my tails against the rock to break it apart, sending large pieces flying. It revealed a small tunnel through the wall that twisted and turned around inside. It was small enough for me to fit as a ball.

'The curtain has closed on the first act.' My lips curled into a small grin. 'It's time to start the second act and put an end to Eggman's show once and for all.' I rolled into a ball and went through the tunnel beyond.

* * *

_(Author's Note: From here on out, I'll stick author's notes on the bottom, I don't wanna force anyone to read anything longwinded before the story itself. This story is the product of my fourteen years (going on fifteen) in playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles extensively. Not a year passed by without playing this game at least once and I have mastered this game inside and out. And yet I still suck at speed runs. No record setting times here!_

_Because this draws a lot from my experiences, I aimed to create an adaption of this story that works on pure game elements and contains itself within Sonic canon pre-Sonic Adventure. The four characters you saw on the Disclaimer: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman, are the only ones in this story from start to finish. There are no original characters or cross-canon references. The planet and world setting is original, however, but lightly made and mostly to accommodate the zones and backstories from the early games: it is NOT Mobius. _

_Much of the observations and references you'll find are from my thoughts of the game, when I first received it back when I was just seven years old all the way to present day. It was a big influence in my decision to write this story in a first person narrative as this gives the feeling that you're playing the game. The fact this follows only Tails makes this story effectively an adaption of a playthrough of S3&K with just Tails alone. As a result, I took as much creative liberties as I did to preserve spirit of the original game. Look for this story to directly take from parts of the game, but at the same time, toss new surprises and twists to keep things fresh and new._

_This is my FIRST piece of fanfiction that has been released to the public and I am a little nervous. But still, feel free to leave reviews and give comments. I will do my best to reply to them, so feel free to ask questions. This is going to be a learning experience for me from start to finish, so I don't expect this story to be perfect.)_


	2. Angel Island Zone Act 2

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**Tomorrow's Wake**

_Angel Island Zone Act 2_

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The sensation of rolling through a hole in the wall was one I always found fairly uncomfortable. The feeling of speed was enough to satisfy the thrill-seeker in me but being completely blind and in such tight quarters dampened the mood. Running in the fresh open air gave me a sense of freedom, but I found such tight passages inside the earth very restricting. Usually these passages were not too long in length and I would shoot out of them at high speeds. It was just the fact that I was contained in such a small space that dissatisfied me. I could blame my love of flight, I suppose – the open skies offered limitless directions to me.

This tunnel had some rings in it, I was sure of it. Through the mess of spinning that filled my vision in the dark passage, I saw golden sparkles. It had to have been about three rings; it was the usual formation of rings around the zones. I couldn't feel the sensation of Chaos Energy that came from the rings, only the effects it offered. It was purely visual so I had to rely on sight to spot the groupings of energy that I could use. The tunnel twisted down and I started to gain speed; I was likely to hit something on the way out. I quickly planned to myself to uncurl the moment I saw light; I didn't want to risk rolling into a wall or some other nasty trap.

I heard and felt the impacting of rock; I must have rolled through a fragile wall. Light filled my scatterbrained vision as I shot out of the wall and into another before I had a chance to uncurl myself. The light switched back to darkness and as I went back to my usual form I saw a wall coming at me just a couple of yards away. I hastily put on the brakes and skidded with all my power to avoid running into the wall.

Just an inch separated me from running face first into certain disaster. With only three rings on me, that was sure to have injured me considerably. I put a hand to my chest and exhaled deeply. 'Too close', I said to myself 'too close...'

I turned behind me to see what I came out from. That didn't quite matter because my eyes quickly darted to a big center of attention: a giant spinning ring floated before me. A Ring Gate!

Ring Gates consisted of mass amounts of Chaos Energy which created a portal to other dimensions and surreal worlds. Special Stages. Anything that was able to pass through had to contain enough Chaos Energy inside to make the warp. Chaos Emeralds were always waiting in Special Stages, and this was my chance to acquire one! But I only had three rings; Sonic needed at least fifty to pass through from what he told me.

As Sonic said, the nature of entry into Special Stages changed. Could it be that the conditions also changed too? Chaos Energy truly lent to its name, I had no way of finding out for sure. I could have just as easily returned back with fifty rings to be safe but I felt a strong desire to investigate the portal before me. After all, I had not actually seen one in person before. It was likely that given Sonic's notorious lack of detail that I could find out something about these that he never bothered to look into.

I had to hop in the middle, if I go by what Sonic had said. 'Fair enough' I thought, 'I would just end up on the other side if it didn't take me anywhere.' I nodded to myself and dove into the ring in front of me. White light engulfed me for a split second.

* * *

I landed safely on both feet on the other side and rubbed my eyes. The flash of white light had blinded me for a few moments. However I knew that it also meant I made a successful leap into the portal. White light signified entry into a Special Stage, as I learned. Once I recovered I stood around and looked at the sight before me. Truly a bizarre spectacle!

I was placed in the middle of what appeared to be a very small planetoid. No, it was too small even for that. It appeared to have its own gravitational pull to keep me in but it was much less than that, perhaps a meteoroid – it had to have been a hundred or so feet across. Owing to the surreal nature of Special Stages, the entire place was...completely random. The ground under me was a flat floor checkered with alternating shades of dark and light brown. The 'sky' above me looked like space with stars and other similar meteoroids but was colored a pale blue.

All around me were many simple spheres floating an inch or so above the ground, roughly half my height and colored blue and red. Some were metallic and had pictures of stars on them, reminding me of the bumpers scattered around Casino Night Zone. Red colored spheres formed a maze around the area, leaving only clearings around; I was in fact placed very close to a 'wall' of them to my right. Blue spheres were placed along the clearing in square groupings. One such set was in front to my right. The spheres resembling bumpers were placed in a band about two spheres wide that separated the different sides of the meteoroid I was on, I could see them distantly ahead of me.

The place was eerily silent, not a sound could be heard aside from my own breathing. All Special Stages were quiet, really. I recall the halfpipes from my last adventure from Sonic; he was so thrown off by the silence that he hummed a tune from start to finish. I have to admit...his songs were very catchy. He had a better ear for music than I did; usually I was content with the sounds of whatever was around me. Given that there weren't any noises around here was something very different, I would have to make up a tune for myself.

Before I took a step forward, words flashed before my eyes for a few seconds:

**Get Blue Spheres**

It was the objective laid out before me. It was similarly done in the past in the other Special Stages too, however strange it was for floating words to flash before Sonic and I. This seemed almost too easy: all of the blue spheres were clearly in view! It was as simple as walking up to them.

But it was the moment where I took my first step that I was instantly forced into a run. The meteoroid I was on instantly began to rotate, forcing me to keep to my feet in a brisk run. It still wasn't much of a challenge, 'Okay, this still isn't too hard, all the blue spheres are so easily attainable'

Yet the moment I wanted to turn to my right I didn't turn – everything _under_ me turned. The whole world around me turned in an exact 90 degree angle. This threw me off a great deal and I ended up missing the blue spheres I had intended to collect. All forward progress was halted during the turn. It was very disorienting! It seemed as if the world under me turned on my command but was limited to turning left or right. This made movement seem like I was forced along a grid. Quickly I 'steered' myself to the right to start collecting the blue spheres before me.

The spheres didn't disappear upon collection. A split second glance down to my feet showed that I simply walked through them. They made a rather loud sound. It was...hard to really describe. Still is hard to describe, even after the fact. I guess it sounded like a dog barking, or perhaps a 'wompf'. It wasn't exactly the kind of sound I was looking for break the silence around here. I focused my vision ahead to continue around the grouping of what were sixteen blue spheres. When I went along the fourth side of the square, my ears twitched in realization. The blue spheres didn't disappear; they turned _red_ from under me. Special Stages have very strict conditions; I feared that touching a red sphere in any way would end my chance of acquiring the Chaos Emerald hidden within.

Before I had a chance to steer out of the way from the red sphere ahead of me, all the spheres suddenly disappeared and turned into rings, making a loud chime in the process. There wasn't anything wrong with rings, in fact collection of these were necessary to advance in the previous ones I had encountered. I ran across to spiral inward and collect each ring. I took a quick mental note to myself to go around square groupings in an outline. The objective was to 'get blue spheres' but I deduced a more proper description was 'remove all blue spheres'.

After collecting the last of the sixteen rings I saw ahead of me four blue spheres in a small square. I didn't think it would be enough for an outline but I ran across them in a very tight square to see what would happen. I heard no chime and I was an inch away from running into a red sphere! I quickly jumped in the air to hop over it and land further ahead.

'That was too close!' I steered the world to turn left and ran ahead to a long band of bumper spheres 'I guess it doesn't work if the square is too tight' I said to myself.

The band of bumper spheres had two 'openings' to either side; I went across to the right side and saw ahead of me four more blue spheres in the same tight square as before. This time I took to a corner and went across it in a small 'U' to come out without running back into the newly formed red spheres. Through the removal of these blue spheres I saw another large square grouping of sixteen like the one from my starting point. I steered ahead to that direction and started to run across the outer edge like before.

I noticed that as I ran across to the fourth edge and heard the loud chime which signaled the spheres turning into rings, that the speed of the world under began to increase. This became even more evident as I was collecting the rings around me. One surprise after another! I had to heighten my reflexes now to prevent myself from steering into the massive sea of red spheres that surrounded the clearings.

Turning back ahead of me I saw a long formation of spheres, mostly of the bumper variety but with some blue ones snaking through the inside like a corkscrew. I positioned myself to follow the path of blue spheres. With the world under me scrolling ahead faster, I had to make use of quick reactions to turn without impacting a bumper: it would send back into a newly formed red sphere.

I forced my eyes to focus straight ahead and down to the ground to see the spheres ahead of me: I rotated the world under me left and right in a tight corkscrew to navigate the tight path and remove the eleven blue spheres ahead. The path led me back out the other side where I quickly turned my eyes back ahead of me again.

Sixteen more blue spheres came ahead; I could sense that I was rotating around this meteoroid fairly quick, given its small size across. I figured the path ahead would be completely symmetric: I went across all the formations I could expect to see ahead of me from here on. Aside from the speed of the floor under me which began to increase, I found myself in the clear.

It was enough for me to start humming a tune of my own. I wasn't very good at composing a nice melody like Sonic, but I felt fairly proud of the song I created in my head. It _was_ pretty catchy! It was what I needed to break the monotony of running over the loud-sounding blue spheres. I kept the song in my head as I ran to cross the four sides of the next formation of spheres ahead of me for more rings.

The floor under me sped up further and I quickly navigated around the outer edge. This wasn't a problem to me for the square formations even as the speed increased: I timed the turns based on the loud 'wompf' sounds from running over the spheres. I mentally created a quick count as I did this: 'One, two, three, four, _turn_, one, two three, _turn_, one, two, three, _turn_, one, two, three'

The loud chime sounded off and spiraled inward to collect the sixteen rings. Ahead of me was two more groups of four spheres separated by a band of bumper spheres like before. It was starting to get simple again and the added speed actually benefited me by quickening the process: I could complete this stage in no time now!

I ran across the first group of four spheres ahead of me and ran through the left opening of the band of bumper spheres to reach to the other side for the four spheres before me and behind that was what I assumed to be the last of the group of sixteen. The world under started to speed up even further and I was now forced to run at close to my top speed without having to use my tails for a boost.

I coasted across the outer edge of the formation to make the spheres turn into rings and as I went inward to collect them all, another chime filled my ears. It sounded like a small music box melody that lasted a few seconds, ending with a distant fading echo. The stage before me was still there, so this couldn't have been a 'confirmation' sound of my objective. What could it have been? I didn't pay it too much mind, although it almost interrupted the rhythm of the tune I hummed to myself.

Beyond that final grouping of sixteen was the second of two corkscrews. The world under me had sped up considerably since I went through the first one, turned my eyes down to the ground to focus solely on the blue spheres (I felt confident enough that continuing to hum the song to myself wouldn't distract me, so I kept humming along). I kept a quick mental count to keep pace:

'One, two three, _turn_, one, _turn_, one, two, _turn_, one, _turn_, one, two, _turn_, one, _turn_, one!'

The instant I collected the last blue sphere the entire sea of red spheres and bumper spheres shot off into the air and the world before me quickly slowed down to the a halt. I skidded to a stop and looked straight ahead of me: a large, well-cut stone with a shimmering shade of emerald green. A Chaos Emerald!

I walked up to it and picked it up with my hands. The stone began to shimmer and the world around me spun rapidly. Before I could look around at what happened, I was engulfed in another flash of white light.

* * *

The distant sounds of crackling fire filled my ears again as I rubbed my eyes to adjust my view. I was back in the burning jungles in the same cavern from before. The first thing I did was look down to my hands. In one of them I held the very same Chaos Emerald. I grinned wide and gazed upon it, running my other hand across its facets.

It was a very beautiful gem; the entire set was very beautiful really. They were all rather large, I could fit about a couple in my hands at a time (although Knuckles' hands seemed to be big enough to hold as many as four). They each had a brilliant cut – a diamond cut as it's also called – and it often led me to wonder if the moniker 'Chaos Emeralds' was a bit of a misnomer. Surely they were gemstones, but the various colors the held were often not the colors of actual emeralds, save for this green one I held before me.

Regardless of what kind of gemstone they actually were, the set of seven Chaos Emeralds were the largest sources of Chaos Energy on the planet. Only the Master Emerald could trump the seven Chaos Emeralds in power. It's often said the Master Emerald resided on this very island, although the varying amounts of legends and myths often led its details and other important factors a bit of a mystery. Much like the other stories I've been told in this manner I chose to disregard that and sought more concrete evidence. All that mattered at this moment was there were six more emeralds to collect. I carefully placed the Chaos Emerald in my backpack and tightly zipped it shut. I couldn't afford to lose the emeralds again, especially from another surprise attack from a certain annoying echidna.

For all the power they contained, the Chaos Emeralds were often very choosy, especially for Chaos Users. I witnessed Sonic attain a storied 'Super' form upon collecting all seven of them, but when I had the seven emeralds shortly before they scattered off I couldn't perform that feat. In fact, I didn't get so much as any power from the emeralds. It was like they were closed off to my body completely.

As I walked back out I came to the realization that perhaps the Chaos Emeralds were choosy to me because I hadn't 'earned' them properly. That is, I didn't go through seven Special Stages. This did lift my spirits a bit: if I could manage six more Special Stages (especially if they're of the simple sphere-collecting variety) then I had the potential to become Super like could. It was like the emeralds had an 'imprint' on the owner who had earned them.

I noticed that there was no bridge ahead of me, only a path leading down. I assumed from all the crumbling rock that there must have been another fragile piece of land bridging the walls together. The air around me got drier and it was starting to feel uncomfortable breathing in the hot air from the raging fires around me. This massive highway before me was still left spared, but I couldn't count on that for much longer, so I had to make haste.

I hopped down to the path below and saw a tiny pool of water, inside which was three rings. I couldn't pass up any rings at this point; it was never a bad thing to collect any ring in my path. The pool of water was roughly three feet in depth though and as I jumped down into the water I sank to the bottom. It was an unfortunate consequence of being a Chaos User: the nature of the Chaos Energy inside me completely nulled my body's natural buoyancy and leaves only gravity to push me down. That did not mean I lacked any ability to swim. If I was going to swim like a normal person, I had to 'simulate' the buoyancy of water by focusing my Chaos Energy around my body to force me up while underwater.

The pool I was on wasn't too long or wide, so I walked under to pick up the three rings below and climbed out of it. I shook the water off my fur (very important when I start to run again, if not annoying in places with large amounts of it) and look at the area ahead of me. There was another large waterfall here it made a large pool of water. The pool appeared to have flooded beyond its limits: the ground I was on was wet and collected water up to my ankles. It was probably what filled the smaller one before.

Above me was a wooden bridge, broken off at one end and mostly frail though the end it was connected to led to a mostly cracked section of rock by the wall ahead. The only other option was to go up, but I didn't see any need to waste the energy to fly all the way up. Seeing as the place was full of secret passages hidden behind cracked rock, I jumped atop the wooden bridge and walked across it.

The bridge began to break off from behind me (what was with everything being so fragile in this jungle? It had to have been the fires going on at this point) and I quickly ran across to the cliff ahead of me, collecting four rings in the process. The spun around to bash my tails through the rock, causing it crumble to the ground and reveal a hidden passage mostly obscured by thick brush around me. The leaves and overgrowth have started to dry up, although none around have caught fire just yet.

What was most important was that there was a monitor in here and it also had a picture on it that was new to me: that of a large drop of water. This had to have been another elemental shield and I went up to it and broke it with my tails. The picture of the water drop rise in the air and disappeared, and instantly a large bubble surrounded me. The bubble encased me all around but it also refreshed the air inside it; it was very cool and moist. I took in a few deep breaths in satisfaction, much better than the increasingly dry and hot air around me.

Much like any other shield I came across before, this shield didn't have any sort of physical properties. I couldn't reach out to touch the bubble (as it consistently followed me) but behind me I extended my tails as far as they could to see the tips of them reach outside the shield. But I still felt encased inside the bubble because of the fresh air around me; it was a pseudo-physical shield much like the plasma shield I had earlier. I was in an area with a lot more water so this air supply was sure to come in handy.

Ahead of me was another crumbled rock which I promptly bashed away with my tails exposing another path outside and a row of three rings before me. Another rhinoceros badnik charged at me the moment I set foot out the passage. I let the badnik speed at me and waited for the right moment.

Just a foot away from me I stepped calmly to a side and watched as the badnik attempted to put on the brakes to prevent it from crashing into the pile of rubble I had just bashed through. The badnik crashed into the rock and broke apart, sending a Flicky to hop away in freedom. I smirked as I noticed it lacked any sort of crumple zone to absorb the energy from a front-on collision, an obvious oversight in Eggman's part.

Ahead of me was another pool of water and what appeared to be a rotating log of sorts. It spun on its own and on one side contained three large spikes. Likely it was a trap set by Eggman but another ill-placed one: I can easily jump over to the other side by leaping into the air in a ball. I handily did this and landed on the other side, which sloped downward into another pool of water. As I went down and into the water I realized I had held my breath on habit. I exhaled and took in the air around me in the bubble. This was really handy; although I was a bit disappointed the bubble didn't help me float up to the surface.

Looking forward I saw more of those strange spinning logs and a small step below, either end had one row of spikes but three rings were also placed in the bottom. To my right was a coconut tree but the leaves atop it were beginning to burn so it was too risky to climb up it. To my right I saw that the pool was lined by a tall wall of rock and overgrowth and to my right, the pool ended but beyond the edge was a large dip to the burning jungles below. It wasn't very wide, yet it was quite deep, so I found myself forced forward yet again.

I decided to fly over the pool instead to reach the other side way in front. The rings below weren't too important to me as I now had a shield to protect me from a hit. I walked back up the ramp that led into the pool and twirled my tails to take flight. I took care to avoid the three burning coconut trees ahead of me and gained a little more height to reach the other side. I landed on my feet and walked forward to collect three rings that were on a small decline.

Ahead of me was a huge concave ramp. I didn't have enough room to simply run up it to the floor above on the other side; there wasn't much room to accelerate. I had just used my tails to fly over the water before so I thought it a good time to try out a Spin Dash.

The Spin Dash was the hardest move I picked up from Sonic, all the more amazing was that I learned it simply from observation. It involved taking the form of a ball and charging up large amounts of energy and then launching forward at high speeds. The trick was actually staying in place while charging – as a ball I had to spin forward faster and faster but at the same time lock myself in place and _then_ find a way to launch myself ahead.

It seemed very impossible: I would force myself to roll ahead anyway with the way I was charging up the dash. The key was intense realignment of the Chaos Energy inside my body. A good deal of it already had to be done to turn into a ball but more of it was required for the charging of a Spin Dash. The nature of the Chaos Energy inside a Chaos User sometimes bent the rules of gravity such as my ability to jump higher when rolled into a ball. If I spun fast enough in place with enough focus, the Chaos Energy 'locked' my body in place but still with a spinning motion. To launch, I had to release all that focus which removes the lock and sent me flying ahead. It was like wheels 'burning rubber' as they called it.

It was very hard to grasp, even for me. This broke basic laws of motion! But it was also a vital move in my repertoire so I couldn't complain at the actual mechanics of the move so much as I would appreciate how well the move has helped me in the past.

I curled into a ball and started to spin faster and faster. I moved forward slightly as I started my charge but as I gained more spinning speed and spread my internal Chaos Energy around, I stopped moving forward and remained spinning place. I let myself charge for a few more seconds and then quickly dropped all focus, sending myself straight ahead up against the ramp. The moment I didn't feel anything under me was when I felt myself in the air. I uncurled myself and look down to see myself launched high up the ramp and the ground below me. I aimed myself to land on the grass below and landed on both feet.

It was downright dangerous to be sent so fast with no ability to see, I not only had to plan before the launch but also after. Unless I had someone leading the way ahead of me, I strictly saved the Spin Dash for emergencies or very small applications of it, such what I had just done. Now that I was safe, I looked ahead of me.

Another cracked wall was directly in front, the wall mostly overgrown with dried up leaves, some starting to catch flames. These cracked walls leading into passages were very common, it seemed. I wondered if they were put up on purpose or perhaps were left up some time ago. Sonic told me of a similar situation in Green Hill Zone back on South Island (a place I've yet to see myself). But then given the surreal nature of the zones around the world, I wouldn't be surprised if there were many hidden passages I've yet to discover, even in places I knew like the back of my hand.

However there was also a second option; a floating platform gently rose and fell, leading the way to a path above. I could give my tails a little break from smashing rocks, so I hopped onto the platform and let it take me up. Above me was a swinging vine, but it was placed too high to be of any particular use (especially since I could just as easily jump to where I need to go). Behind me was yet another cracked wall (these shouldn't surprise me now) and straight ahead was a cliff ahead with a gentle slope leading down.

In my path were tall, beautiful flowers starting to collect flames. I shook my head in dismay and jumped over them. I never was one for flowers, admittedly (I could argue Sonic had a liking to them), but I also wasn't one for needless destruction of them. The fact the jungles around me were in blazes still rang across my mind: it just wasn't fair.

Up ahead was another rhinoceros badnik. They were starting to become child's play to handle: I took a small jog straight at it and then rolled into a ball right through it, breaking it apart. Eggman's AI routines for the badniks were awfully simplistic. He mass manufactured so many, he probably found it quicker to make simpler AI programming into them. I was no expert in the field of artificial intelligence, much less programming itself – I always fashioned myself as a mechanic. Seeing Eggman's badniks fail miserably to stop me gave me the impression that I should take up the study of AI just to make something better. Yeah, that would show him!

Ahead of me was a small 'pool' of spikes. To navigate over it I could just fly, but there was a vine handily swinging over it. I hopped up to grab onto the pulley and jumped off the other side. There was a waterfall ahead, one of many. It was fairly thin for a waterfall; I estimated it to be about 10 feet wide. The current moving it across was fairly fast and it ran down to a large pool of water below. On the other side at my level was another cracked rock. I was in the mood to keep going 'up' so I jumped across the waterfall to the other side. The other side featured yet another cracked wall and a crumbling rock shortly before it.

Upon uncurling myself to land from the jump, I landed onto the rock which began to break apart under my weight. This time I turned my eyes straight down as quickly as possible to spot a spring launcher hidden underneath. I let myself bounce up off it and turned my focus to what was above me. There was another cliff leading to a path straight ahead to another cracked wall, but there was also another floating platform that was about to rise up to two higher cliffs on either said. I reached out with my arms to grab onto the side once I gained enough height and climbed onto the grassy top of the moving platform. I heard projectiles fire and spiked balls rained down from the cliff above.

Spikes! They were sure to break the bubble shield I had around. I didn't have much room to evade the projectile and my mind couldn't process enough options quickly enough, so I sidestepped in vain. It was likely to skim a side, causing the whole bubble to pop. But to my surprise, the spiked round bounced off at an angle! I raised my eyebrows and looked up to see another spiked ball come down at me while I was busy looking at awe at the first. It too bounced off harmlessly to a side.

This was new! Shields I had collected in the past never repelled any sort of fired shots; they instead took it as damage and dispersed. This bubble I had around me turned out to be pretty resilient! I jumped atop the cliff above to my left to see what was firing these shots at me. It was a badnik, but of a different design: it resembled a large flower, a tulip to be precise. The base of it contained three fairly large spiked balls and the lower rim of the 'petals' had spikes jutting out to the side. I saw it fire two more of these similarly shaped spiked balls into the air, coming from the middle of the 'petals'. It seemed to fire them with no rhyme or reason. Without any problem I jumped onto the exposed top while rolled into a ball and crashed through it, sending a Kucky out to freedom.

Ahead of me I spotted yet another new monitor. This one featured a picture of fire. A Fire Shield? It would certainly prove invaluable in the midst of the burning jungle! I wasted no time in breaking it apart. The bubble shield around me was gone and was instead replaced with spherical shield of flame. The cool moist air that surrounded me was also traded for warm, dry air. I still didn't find much trouble breathing it in; somehow it felt a lot more comforting compared to the air around the jungles.

I assumed that the shield would offer project from fire and burns. This did open up a realm of possibilities as I turned to my left and looked down at the burning jungles below. There was nothing to see there, not even rings. Even if I could see through the rising heat waving up into the air, there would be no purpose in going down there. My goal was straight ahead. I turned back to jump off the cliff and down to a lower one on the other side of the floating platform. It appeared to be blocked off: tall pillars of bark-like stone impeded the path. The pillars were of the same natural composition but were clearly carved this time and appeared to have been purposefully placed to block the way before me. I shook my head in mild frustration. My newly acquired fire shield would very likely wear off in water, and backtracking to the waterfall and the pool below seemed like the only option now.

I then twitched my ears, a typical habit expressing one of those 'ah-ha!' moments: 'Oh yeah, there was that cracked wall just below me.' I nodded to myself and hopped off the edge onto the ground below.

Ahead of me was a wall of plants and rock and a particular section of it fragile and about to crumble. These crumbling rocks seemed to be all the same to me. I just shrugged that off and bashed it away with my tails. It exposed a small room inside lit by four small torches against the wall. The only content of the room was an odd-looking switch in the center. Colored steel gray and about the size of a spring launcher, it had on arrow pointing down located on the rim. I supposed it had to be pushed down. Much like the spring launchers and spikes I had encountered, the switch looked completely out of place in the jungle and mostly pristine in condition and generally unaffected by the elements. Likely something set by Eggman.

Switches of this nature aren't new to me, Sonic and I had found plenty before and they usually were beneficial enough to open up a new area. The presence of this one directly below the pillars above led me to believe this would make them give way. I climbed onto the switch to let my weight push it down. The switch let out a 'click' and the walls around me began to shake and tremble for a few fleeting seconds. I dashed out of the room to be sure it wasn't a trap but I looked back and the trembling stopped.

My ears picked up the sounds directly above and behind me: two different sounds. The one above was very likely the pillars giving way as it sounded liked moving stone. The other sound which was behind me was that of water rushing faster for a split second and then fading off to nothing.

'The waterfall?' I curiously walked back to where the waterfall was and blinked in surprise when I saw that the waterfall was now gone! Looking down below I also saw the entire pool of water had completely drained away. That was very odd; why would one switch alter both the passage above and this waterfall? It didn't really make any sense (especially the thought of Eggman rigging this particular waterfall to drain away to wherever) other than the fact that two paths were now open to me.

Multiple ways to traverse a zone were common situations in the past. Sonic would pick just whatever suited his fancy and I simply followed. Here I took a more careful approach. I was very curious about where all that water went, but I'd likely only find a drainage system of some sort down below. The formerly blocked passage behind me was sure to take me to a more direct path ahead. I didn't have much time to spend looking around for purely observation and curiosity with the jungles around me still on fire. I had to keep moving ahead.

I nodded to myself and turned back to the floating platform which had fallen low enough for me to jump upon. I hopped back onto it and let it take me back up to the lower cliff ahead where the way before me was blocked. Sure enough, the stone pillars had given way and revealed a corridor ahead leading upwards. I hopped off the platform onto the passage and ran across it.

The corridor consisted of stone all around and the way leading up was outlined by rows of spikes. They were placed all along the walls but stopped at the top. I craned my head up to see that this was another path and it seemed to lead straight ahead. Furthermore there were several rings leading the way up directly in the middle marking a safe ascent from the spikes all around, I counted five. I shrugged and twirled my tails into a quick spin to get myself into flight. This was a piece of cake.

It was probably put around to prevent someone like Sonic from going up, seeing as he couldn't possibly jump all the way up top. I carefully hovered upwards and collected the five rings in the process. As I reached the top of the corridor to the path ahead I saw another model of tulip badniks, spewing out large spiked balls left and right without any care in the world (I guessed these badniks didn't have any sort of visual aids or 'eyes').

The bubble shield I had earlier repelled the projectiles handily. Could this fire shield do the trick too? I shook my head. I couldn't risk trying this out; having a fire-based shield right now was very important and if it couldn't offer any defense against projectiles I'd lose it right away. I was above the 'well let's see what happens' approach when clear danger was in the line, or at least something important enough such as this.

I landed on the ground from my flight and ran for the badnik the moment it finished firing off two rounds on either side. I rolled into a ball and collided with it, breaking it apart and sending off another Flicky to fly away. While I was rolling I had heard it firing off a round just before I impacted it. As I uncurled, I looked up to see that last round it had fired and it was about to fall on me!

I braced myself, unable to step out of the way in time but the sound of flames above me perked my attention. I looked up to see the spiked ball burnt asunder, its ashes cast off into the hot air. I blinked in welcome wonder; this shield was turning out to be quite useful! I let out a sigh of relief and walked ahead to see that before me was a concave ramp leading down. It was very steep and it had five rings on it to lead the way down.

Jumping onto these and taking a ride down gave a quick boost in speed that I found very thrilling. Before I took the jump I scanned ahead of me to see a short track ahead of me to follow. The ramp lead to a cliff, looking quite similar to the crumbling ones before. A few inches after the cliff was huge, stationary platform, covered in grass and plants that looked about nine feet wide. Above this was vine swinging back and forth and in front was a floating platform that moved up and down to another larger floating rock formation, apparently shaped as a flipped 'L'.

My tails wagged in delight; this was going to be another quick burst of action like old times. I waited a few fleeting moments for everything to position itself properly and then I took off, going down the ramp below and collecting the five rings in the process. I let gravity do its work and I did my part too by spinning my tails. I ceased to run with my legs and let my toes skim the ground as I sped for the cliff before me. It was likely to crumble and it did, but I shot off the edge and onto the nearby platform.

Midway in the air I stopped the spinning of my tails and sprang to the air in a jump, reaching up for the pulley on the bottom of the swinging vine. It was swinging back perfectly and was about to give its momentum forward (aided in no small part to my burst of speed before). My reflexes kicked in and I let myself go, flying in the air straight for the floating platform which was now in the right position to land on.

The very millisecond my feet touched the grassy top, I sprang to the air once more to the top of the new formation before me. Now on a rush I continued to run forward and let my fast thinking kick in. As I ran down the top of the path at around fifty miles per hour (and rising) a tulip badnik came into view and behind it was a Super Rings monitor. I waited for the right moment and then turned into a ball to barrel past both with ease. As I uncurled I felt the sensation of falling down, I was off the floating rock already!

Below I landed on a new stationary platform in the air (I could have easily survived the long fall from above as my body was able to withstand it, but I wanted to keep my momentum going) and in front of me was a wall. I turned behind me without stopping, wanting to keep up my fast pace and ran off the platform to the flat top of a vertical loop. As I ran across it I saw a hill going down the opposite way, a very steep one at that. Three rings were waiting on the hill down and while I was landing on the top of the loop, I could see five rings around it.

I jumped off the edge and landed for the three rings, then quickly turned around and gave my tails a good twirl to kick start my second gear. I propelled myself around the loop which led further down through a small patch of dried leaves. I dashed straight through them and heard the leaves rend behind me from my now-sharp tails. Not bothering to look at my wake behind me, I focused instead on the second loop which also had five rings running around it. Gravity started to push my speed beyond its max and started to catch up with Sonic's running usual speeds. My lips curled into a grin as I flashed around the full 360 degrees.

Up ahead was a very steep hill leading down and further down was a gigantic waterfall. The end of the hill had a simple ramp that twisted around at the end, similar to one I found before. With the speeds I had beginning to get around three hundred miles an hour, I was likely to rocket across the waterfall to the other side. I didn't stop running: there was a series of ledges all the way on the other side that led straight up, something I could do with a quick series of jumps. I leaned my body forward and hit the ramp at full speed.

For a few fleeting moments I was caught in the enthrallment of being sent across the air at such a fast speed. It really did feel like flying and it was my one true love in the world. To be sent in the air like this for only a few seconds was enough to remind me of being in the cockpit of my Tornado at top flight. But without the restrictions of a cockpit around me, with only my body to take me from point A to point B, it was real bliss! It was the truest and simplest joy to me in my mind; no machine can come close to a sensation like this, no matter how finely crafted and designed. I felt very special to be able to lay witness to excitements in life that only a select few can hope to dream of attaining.

My brief pleasure subsided as I turned back to the 'real world' around me. There a ledge to land on! As I saw it come into view I spotted a spring launcher hidden among the grass and four rings behind it. My trajectory was about right to land on the ledge and continue a fast run into the spring launcher. It would take me up to a higher ledge to a side leading up to two more cliffs higher up leading back the other way lending to a maze-like path that would lead me higher up the waterfall.

I landed on the ledge and kept up pace into a fast run. My legs were easily able to withstand the shock from exceedingly high falls and at speeds such as this. This let me carry momentum from the arcing leap in the air before without having to stop and have my legs mangled up from the landing. I collected the four rings ahead of me and went for the spring launcher.

Looking up as I stepped onto it, I went for the next ledge. It was to a side and as I began my ascent from the spring launcher, I looked up and saw that I wasn't going to reach the other two ledges that were higher up from it. I instead looked down to land, but noted another hidden spring launcher implanted in the ground on the lower ledge.

It was sure to give me the boost up so I aimed myself for and it turned my sight back up the moment I planted my feet on its surface. There was a ceiling ahead and ahead of me was blocked by a wall. A ramp leading up to nowhere (or rather, the ceiling) was there as well as a badly placed rhinoceros badnik. Honestly, what was it doing over in a stray ledge with no room to move around and no way to get across to the other side? Directly above was a vine swinging back and forth, I was heading up its way so I reached out to grab onto the pulley and jumped off to the other side which led back to the waterfall.

Beyond some burning flowers and plants, the cliff gave way and stopped not far from where I had landed below. The waterfall was truly gigantic! What I first suspected to be floating rock was in fact portions of the wall jutting out beyond the crashing water. These portions dotted the waterfall below but were mostly absent as I looked further up. Two rows of three rings each formed a path leading up to a cliff to the other side. A spring launcher at the corner led higher up which allowed passage back to the other end of the waterfall. It was too high up to jump onto, so I took flight with my tails to reach up, grabbing the first set of rings along the way.

Suddenly square portions of ring were pushed out from behind the waterfall. I was dangerously close to flying directly into one of these and I quickly steered myself to a side out of the way. Upon turning back to look at them, they receded back in the waterfall. A trap, perhaps? Surely it flustered me for a few moments, but I wasn't completely thrown off by that. Traps like these I had to anticipate as I moved along in my quest: I couldn't take the zones for granted for either their natural of artificial hazards.

I flew higher up for the other three rings and landed on the long grass-topped floor of rock. I hopped onto the spring launcher to the higher end. The rock extended upwards in strange ways, making a sort of 'C' shape as I landed on the ledge to the right. The top of this led to the other side across the waterfall. Much of the zones had strange formations like this which made odd and sometimes fascinating shapes. Straight ahead from the ledge was a large step, after which was yet another cracked wall. I just ignored it (so many of them!) and jumped up the step and then turned back to the top of the 'C'.

I had to curl into a ball to reach this high jump, at least ten feet up in the air. I made the landing just barely and uncurled myself to see straight ahead. A rhinoceros badnik was waiting in the other end. I could easily guess what was going to happen: a head on charge. Beyond that was a wooden bridge that looked as if it had formerly connected to the floor I was on, but some portions were missing on my side. Four rings were on the bridge and beyond it was a small step and what looked to be a large ramp.

I ran straight up to the charging badnik and swiped at it with both my tails, sending it over the edge and all the way to the bottom of the waterfall. 'Have a nice trip', I mentally quipped with a smirk and turned my attention to the bridge.

I jumped onto and it began to fall apart (as expected), so I ran across to the other side with haste to pick up the four rings. The moment I stepped onto the cliff I picked up speed and made a short hop to get atop it. A simple row of spikes stopped me from running straight ahead and above me at the top of a tall coconut tree in front was a monkey badnik tossing a coconut from high atop its perch.

Coconuts and fire certainly didn't mix, I just stood in place and let the coconut burn to ash from the shield around me. I then jumped high into the as a ball and destroyed it with ease. I landed on the other side of the spikes and in front of me was a tall ramp leading straight up to a higher ledge. Three rings were at the foot of the ramp but at the top of the ledge was a row of spikes blocking the way.

Or so it seemed: the blunt part of the spikes to the side was situated at the exact edge of the ramp which went to a straight vertical ascent. I could spin dash up the ramp and land on the other side of the spikes. The blunt parts of spikes could be stood upon and I had done this before with spikes situated on their sides before. It wasn't like simply touching them was of any harm. I wonder if Eggman actually thought this when placing them around randomly.

I rolled into a ball and began to let out bursts of rapid spins. Satisfied with my level of charging, I let loose the spin dash and shot up the ramp. I felt myself going straight up, touching first rock then steel, then nothing but air. I was in the air now so I uncurled to see where I was going and looked down. I gave my tails a quick twirl to push me forward as I fell to land beyond the spikes on the other side. Directional influence with my tails was a trick I recently picked up and it was especially helpful for spring launchers and other situations that would send me straight up but required me to nudge myself in one direction or the other.

On the other side was a Lamp Post and a cracked wall. Upon landing and passing by the Lamp Post, I heard the parts inside whir and it let out a low chime with its round tip flashing red and yellow. As much as it started to annoy me, I had to smash down this cracked wall to continue. I bashed it down with my tails and saw that it revealed a tunnel, wide enough for me to fit through as a ball. I had to gain enough speed to run through it, although usually the paths inside walls would twist and carry myself below which gave me speed to continue on. To be safe I entered the passage with a spin dash and kept my eyes peeled for any quick changes from darkness to light.

I felt myself twisting around in a backwards 'S' and then waving up and down continuously straight ahead. The tunnel was completely smoothed out like the one I had encountered further back so it gave me more speed. The consistent wave of the tunnel was enough to give me a constant speed throughout instead of simply being a straight line which would have eventually made me lose speed and momentum (this made me wonder about the construction of these tunnels if they were done on purpose).

Faster and faster I went until I felt myself going on a straight line and then rising straighting up. I felt myself impact the bottom of the ground and I shot up out of it and into the light of day. I was launched straight up into the air and as I uncurled myself, I found that I had been thrown up _very_ high into the air. Although I was able to land from this height safely, it'd not only leave my legs a bit sore, but it'd also probably disrupt the Chaos Energy of the fire shield I had around me. I quickly started to spin my tails and let myself hover down to the floor below. I landed a few feet from the large hole in the ground I created and picked up three rings in the process.

Directly ahead of me the track of this floating highway began to widen and was completely flat for a considerable distance. It felt like a very long straightaway. For all the randomness of zones and their exotic layouts, complete straightaways like this were extremely rare. Sonic would have loved to speed through this. It was like a long drag strip.

My ears picked up a sound. It was distant at first but it was very distinct. It was engines. Massive engines. Even from far away I could feel they were huge. Something big was coming from above. I looked up in the sky above to see what was arriving. My tails actually wagged in anticipation as I heard the sound get closer and closer. I ran forward down a few steps of land and onto the long straightaway to get a clearer view. It was...

It was an airship! More precisely, a flying destroyer. It had to have been one of Eggman's designs but it was real sight to behold. Really, both terrifying and awe-inspiring. Colored a deep shade of green, the ship was much smaller than the giant Wing Fortress from before, this one appeared to have been made for quick bombing runs, judging from the seven large chutes placed below it. It was propelled by a mixture of rocket boosters and propellers up front to stabilize its direction. The armor on it looked relatively light, it didn't seem to be made for any long-lasting confrontations but it also gave it a great amount of speed for a ship its size. On its side in small white letters, I spotted the name 'Flying Battery-001'.

Flying fleets were a rare specialty of Eggman's and actually exhibited among the best and finest of his works. His badniks were nothing but a shoddy mess of mass-produced drones. Not even his larger creations, the so-called 'minibosses' could compare. Not even the various iterations of his Egg Mobile, converted to various combat purposes could match this. _This_ was among the fruits of his labor that I actually admired in design and execution. Eggman learned very quickly how to effectively utilize this notion of an aerial base of operations: starting from a mechanized zeppelin (of all things) to the enormous but surprisingly frail Wing Fortress. The presence of this meant he had started to venture into an actual aerial fleet.

I could always dream up a blueprint for a simple two-seater private aircraft – something small like the Tornado. I took to Sonic's plane instantly not only because I fell in love with its construction, but because I didn't have any materials to work with to make a plane of my own. Even when I was given possession and care of the Tornado from Sonic, I still dreamed big. Even after putting twin boosters on it and improving the engine and chassis, I still wanted to think ahead to bigger and better things. Seeing Eggman do what I dreamed of didn't set off any envy. It emboldened me! He proved to me that these things were possible and within my grasp.

But such exquisite designs meant nothing to their _application_. It was one thing to craft a fine design as this, but it was another to completely abuse it and demean its technical value. This aerial destroyer lowered its altitude and opened all the hatches. My eyes widened. It was going to carpet bomb the area!

This was harrowing, but I had no time to stop and remain dumbstruck over the waste of a technological marvel. I had to get out of here! I scrambled down the long path and put my tails to a spin as soon as I could to attain my top speed. The roar of the engines became deafening as it lowered altitude even more and began to drop its payload: huge incendiary bombs easily my size. I propelled myself to the limit and my heart began to somersault inside. This destroyer could easily outpace me and I had no room to hide.

I looked behind me and saw it begin to drop its bombs from two chutes at a time with the ones up front going first. The ground from under me shook with tremendous force and sizable craters were left in its wake and tall flames burst out from each explosion. Three bombs fell from each chute and in timely fashion. The fell in sequence from front to back, so I had to push myself as fast I could to hopefully outrun the explosions from each bomb – not even my fire shield could withstand the sheer force from these rounds.

I didn't look back again, I put faith in my ability. It was...rare that I would do that. What if the destroyer decided to drop more rounds and break the pattern? Indeed I'd have to turn back and see what would happen. However I was too...heartbroken to see what happened. No, that destroyer, this 'Flying Battery' didn't deserve another look.

The shadow of the airship fell over me as I continued to make a mad dash down the long, seemingly never-ending straight. The ground continued to shake violently with each passing bomb and I only mentally counted off how many bombs would fall. Nine more. Eight more. Seven...

As the remaining rounds fell a small patch of trees came to view in the horizon. It was probably the only way I could take cover however the rounds would have been exhausted by this point. I still had a little more to go and my tails were starting to get pushed to the limit. Fatigue hadn't set in yet but it would soon. Four more rounds fell upon the ground.

Three more bombs.

I didn't look up at the destroyer, my eyes were locked straight ahead. But that last chute was certain to inch by closer and closer at this rate. Again, faith in myself drove me to continue on; I felt my tails starting to get sore. Just a bit more to go!

The first of three blasts came closer than before. Between the roar of the engines above and the explosions of the bombs, my ears were ringing constantly. The trembling became more violent as the blast radius approached closer and closer. My mind demanded my body push itself beyond the limit and it started to yell back to me in fatigue. This couldn't last much longer! I had been certain before I'd reach cover before the round would go out.

The second blast stepped up the force, my feet had left the ground completely for brief moments of time, it almost left me airborne and would have thrown me off my trajectory. I was unable to feel the heat from the bombs but had I not this shield around me it would been very intense. I started to fear that the force of the bombs behind would remove my shield. Or worse fall onto the shield. If that happened...

The last of three blasts came and the blast was near-deafening. I couldn't hear the sound of my own yelp I let out in reaction. The ground trembled violently as ever and my bee-line for cover wavered. I spread the tips of my shoes out on the ground to steer myself ahead. The flames overcame my vision for a few seconds. As the flames left, my shield remained. I was spared. The patch of trees approached closer and closer. I was going to make it.

The destroyer began to take on more altitude and steered away from where I was going. A cleared path was made between the trees that I took to instantly and continued to speed through. My body was begging me to stop for only a moment's rest and my ears were ringing. I wasn't content with stopping now, I felt the need to run as fast I could. Not for fear of another destroyer, not for fear of the raging fires all around me. It wasn't even for reaching Eggman as soon as possible.

To be honest...I don't know why I still ran.

I was overcome by emotion. I had a drive but what to do with it? What was it for? It was pointless to keep running at full speed for nothing but I didn't see that. Even as I started to feel sore all around and my Chaos Energy inside was burning I still didn't want to stop.

I almost let myself go. It was like shutting off all my senses. My ears were ringing but I didn't care. There wasn't anything to hear. What could I want to see? Only the trees ahead of me? The blazing flora and fauna around me? Did I feel any need to smell the burning air? To feel the hot, dry air all around? Maybe I didn't want to believe it then or even ponder it but maybe...just maybe...

...this may had been too much for me to handle at once. Between that blasted echidna, the loss of the Chaos Emeralds, Eggman and his evil plans; the razing of the jungle, the waste of an aerial marvel for simple carpet bombing. And it was all without him...

Without...

I had to stop. It hit me then and there. It was a mental slap in the face to wake me up to my senses. I ceased the spinning of my tails and skidded to a complete stop, sending up a cloud of dirt in my wake.

My sight returned to me first. It never left, but without any reason to care for what was ahead of me before, it felt as if I opened my eyes yet again. ahead of me was a tall cliff. I was standing on a wooden bridge connected to a large ledge that extended outwards from behind the waterfall. Beyond that was another bridge leading to the tall cliff.

A massive waterfall was to the left of me. That brought my hearing back: the ringing from before was still faintly in my head but now I heard the falling rush of water from high above. My scent came back then came back, the smell of dry, hot air. It was still from the fire shield around me but it was of a mild level of comfort to me. At least it was helpful to me. My sense of feeling was the last to come back. I had been all but numb for mere seconds but it rushed back to me as if I hadn't felt anything for weeks. My body remained sore from my intense burst of speed, my tails were especially thankful to finally rest and remained completely still.

As I slowly walked to the center of the wet, grassy ledge my mind was a dense fog. I had no clarity – it contrasted the crystal clear goals I set for myself when I started my quest. At that moment I wasn't sure what to do. Should I really have kept going forward to wherever these jungles took me? To just keep running until the floor from under me burns to the ground? What was I doing all this for?

I stopped walking and looked behind me. It was almost an empty stare. I wasn't completely without feeling like I had been a few moments before but I was looking at a whole lot of nothing. However, I barely felt something inside me. A voice perhaps, one of those nagging inner facets of an individual's conscience everyone had that drove them to get back on their bearings.

I was too listless to hear that voice. I needed a trigger to get back on track.

And it came to me from another voice, this one not of my own: "Enjoying the show, fuzzball?"

My fur bristled and I turned to my left. From behind the waterfall...

"How nice… I suppose it is only appropriate that someone bear witness to the clearing of these worthless jungles! This area will make a fine, new base of operations!"

Eggman.

A loud splash came from the behind the waterfall, revealing a combat-modified Egg Mobile. These were the 'boss' machines, the kind made specifically to stop Sonic and I. The designs were always very different but usually maintained the same basic principle: there was a big dome of glass with Eggman in clear view and the original model of Egg Mobile was hidden inside. It was like a 'lock-on' technology that he would use to mix and match variations based on the natural terrain and other factors.

The vehicle was almost completely sphere like, much like the flamethrower miniboss from before. This one was colored blue and much thicker armor than before. A thick steel rim was placed under the dome of glass up top, likely to secure the basic Egg Mobile that was inside. This allowed it not only to stay on, but also to eject at will. Eggman was an escape artist – he would likely eject if the vehicle's outer shell started to fail or fall apart.

At its sides were two cannons. These were also sphere-like which was made to be easily pivoted around in a full 360 degrees. The chutes of the cannons were wide and it looked as if I could almost fit inside one while curled in a ball. The bottom of this vehicle appeared to be consisted of bronze, an interesting, if not effective choice of material for this application. Bronze doesn't generate sparks and given the theme of flame-based weaponry I had seen, I can assume it was made to endure the presence of flammable vapors. This likely contained the fuel for the cannons to spout out flames of some kind.

Behind the cannons were two larger spheres with two pipes running across the sides, looking like giant veins. This looked to be a power supply rather than a fuel tank, and appeared to be one of the sources of energy keeping the vehicle afloat.

Unattractively placed in the front of the ship, directly underneath Eggman's glass dome and securing metallic rim was a speaker through which he spoke to the world his twisted ideals.

His voice was gravely and thick, it was about as unattractive as his looks "Let's make sure you stay put for a while!"

The giant vehicle floated further behind me and I turned around to keep pace. The cannons twisted directly below and shot out two large balls of fire to burn out the bridge ahead of me. The wooden bridge easily succumbed to the fire and the burning ashes fell below to what looked like an almost limitless fall below (where could it lead to?).

Not finished yet, the cannons twisted directly behind him and Eggman craned his neck back to see his next target. Two more fireballs shot out of the cannons and laid siege to the patch of trees before me, sending out high plumes of flame in the air and sending the trees down to block the path.

Turning back to face me, he arched an eyebrow in surprise. "What's this? Looks like you came prepared..." He was eying my fire shield.

"Well then...let's fix that, shall we?"

With a loud splash Eggman retreated behind the waterfall again. I tensed my body and looked back to the waterfall to my left. The waterfall was very loud and easily droned out any other surrounding sounds. The lack of a visible engine on the vehicle also made it extremely quiet, it would be impossible for my ears to discern the sound of the vehicle from behind. He all but disappeared beneath a veil of water. Curse him!

I had only a limited space to move around. The cliff high above only led to a very high wall. I would have nowhere to run except back through the torrent of flames from the patch of fiery trees, but it didn't serve me well to escape. I had to stop him!

Cautiously I stepped around the grassy platform. I couldn't take a chance going on the bridge, since he could easily burn it down and send me down to the very bottom...wherever that may have been. It was hard me to predict where Eggman would pop out and I didn't have much room.

I heard another loud splash. Behind me! I whirled around but it wasn't in enough time: Eggman's vehicle towered over me and rammed into me head on. I let out a yell in surprise and grabbed onto the edge of the platform to my right; I was almost knocked off! My shield vanished and I was left vulnerable once more.

I climbed back onto the floor and looked up to see Eggman retreat to a side and fire off three rounds of fireballs. The cannons were aimed down at 45 degree angles and the fireballs curiously angled off upon hitting the floor to move straight at me. I took flight with my tails to evade the three fireballs. Looking down I saw they left a small trail of flames in their wake.

He was planning to burn the only safe platform I had! I landed onto the ground and went behind the waterfall. There wasn't too much room for me here and the sounds of rushing water overwhelmed my sense of hearing. But I wasn't back here to hide, I ran back to where the fires had started and twirled myself around a few times to send off water at the flames with my tails. I went back out to see rising steam in place of most of the fires.

But I also saw Eggman right in front of me. He let out a booming laugh and sent out two more fireballs my way. I rolled out of the way to my right and turned back to see the fireballs disappear beneath the waterfall with huge clouds of steam. This was my chance to attack – I ran for the side of Eggman's vehicle and jumped at it while curled into a ball.

The ship didn't spin around to face me and evade in time and I impacted the hardened armor. It was enough to bounce me off back the way I came and I uncurled as soon as possible to see my damage: I made a large dent at the center of the vehicle, directly under the metallic rim above. That also meant I completely busted the speaker that stuck out the front. Buzzing and crackling sounds were the last of its sounds before it died out completely.

I had no words for Eggman, and now he had none for me. I'd rather fight him in silence than listen to him boom out nonsense from a speaker. I still saw him trying to speak out to me from behind his glass dome but it was so thick and well protected that it was all but soundproof. I didn't bother to guess what he was yelling at me.

The vehicle took higher to the air and floated above me. I craned my neck to see it aimed its cannons straight down. I ran for the other side (and careful not to step on the wooden bridge) as Eggman fired down a flurry of fireballs at the ground, blackening the grass and sending out fires to spread across an entire side of the center platform.

I ran back behind the waterfall and to the other side where I attempted to extinguish the flames. It was now a bothersome task: I had to divert my attention in attacking him head on and instead had to manage my limited space. As I spun myself around to put out the flames, I faintly heard a splash from above and looked up to see Eggman's vehicle about to swoop down at me.

My reflexes kicked in and I sprang from the ground into the air and rolled myself into a ball. I bounced off a smooth surface and I uncurled the moment I could to see I had hit the glass, leaving a sizable crack across the top. I landed back to the side closest to the bridge and ran out from behind the waterfall.

The moment I ran out, Eggman popped out as well and fired off more fireballs at the ground. As they angled off to rush forward at me, Eggman charged at me with his vehicle. He was going to push me back to the wooden bridge! I had to evade to prevent myself from being cornered, so I took to the air with my tails and I flew around the ship to land across at the other side. One of the cannons pivoted around straight behind and fired off two shots at me as I landed.

One shot grazed my arm but the other hit me square in the chest. I fell back to the ground and watched as all of my rings scattered out around me. My chest was _burning_! Just breathing made it hurt and I clutched my chest in a feeble attempt to quell the sharp sensation of pain.

I got to my feet as quickly as I was able and made a scramble for what rings I could grab before they disappeared into the air. I ran across the platform to grab ten rings, only enough to dull the pain around me. I skidded to a stop and whirled around to see Eggman's next course of action. I began to formulate a plan in my mind, trying my hardest to ignore the burning sensation of pain around my chest.

I had two options: to destroy the fuel cell underneath the ship or to destroy the power supply directly behind the cannons. The first option seemed most attractive because the underside of the ship was most vulnerable, even if Eggman would point his cannons below, they could not protect the direct underside of the ship. The second option would do the most damage to the ship but it was hardest to do; I would have to risk being put into harms way from the cannons (and with only ten rings I _would_ incur serious burns across my body) and I would have to constantly outwit Eggman to get behind him.

Eggman steered his ship opposite the waterfall and turned to face me, pointing his cannons at the platform. He was going to set fire to it again, with what grass was still on it that hadn't burnt to ash. I retreated behind the waterfall to wait out the attack but I could see the big blue vehicle charge at me. For once this was an attack pattern I predicted.

I took a quick mental snapshot of the vehicle. It was going to come directly at me and with a sidestep, I can counter with a hit from behind – right at the power supply behind the cannons. I executed my plan: leaping off to a side and then taking to the air as a ball as Eggman zoomed past at nothing. I curled into a ball, certain that my trajectory would be on target.

I bounced back and felt myself go through the waterfall back into the open, I returned from ball form to see nothing but the waterfall in front and looked down to see I would land on a completely burnt out part of the platform. I landed on both feet, kicking up ash in the air around me. Eggman was waiting behind the waterfall again. Looking around, not much of the platform around me was still burning, much of the grass had become ash at this point. Although I was comforted that I didn't have to micromanage this battle, that still left Eggman to force me to play guessing games behind the waterfall.

With a loud splash, Eggman appeared directly above me and fired off his cannons directly below at me. I lowered my brow and instead took to the air underneath the vehicle. I flew past the four rounds tossed down at me and aimed my whirring tails at the fuel cell underneath. With my tails hardened into blades, I collided with the underside of the ship and quickly flew off to a side: I looked to see that I had cut several small holes into fuel cell, causing the fuel to leak out slowly.

I had him cornered this time: it was simply a matter of outlasting him. I didn't want to just outlast him though, I wanted to _defeat_ him. I landed safely beside a far end of the platform opposite the cliff and looked up in the air.

He was clearly frustrated as I saw his face turn red in anger. He fired off more rounds from his cannons, the fireballs became more volatile from the disrupted fuel supply. I easily leaped over each shot: it was Eggman's biggest fault for him to be angered. It caused him to become more reckless.

I charged forward I leaped over each shot and as I got close enough, I rolled into a ball underneath the vehicle (I took care to avoid going directly under the middle to not get fuel spilled on myself) and uncurled myself beneath it. My eyes spotted that I_ did_ hit the power supply that time before. I was unable to see where I had specifically damaged it but the left power supply was beginning to send off sparks in the air.

This was both good and bad as I hopped into the air and slashed my tails at the other power supply. The sparks were sure to set off fires from the leaking fuel. But with Eggman's vehicle getting more and more crippled, I had no better chance than now to dispose of it. My tails had cut through both of the pipes sending off electricity and sparks in the air. I backpedaled as far I could to avoid getting any thrown at me.

It turned out to be the decisive blow. Eggman's attempt to turn the ship around failed from both damaged fuel supplies and it instead fell to the ground with a loud thud. The leaking fuel and sparks were a recipe for disaster! I took flight to avoid the explosions caused from the fuel setting fire to the ship and sending off damaged parts all around.

I flew all the way across to the other side and landed on the wooden bridge to witness Eggman ejecting his Egg Mobile from the damaged shell which tumbled over the floor and fell down the depths beyond. Eggman retreated with his Egg Mobile all the way down below. I couldn't hear what he was yelling from behind the glass but I was able to guess:

"I'll be back!" And he will. He always did.

My ears picked up the sounds of propellers in the air and I turned my attention upwards with my body tensed. I relaxed when I saw a familiar sight instead: an Egg Capsule.

Egg Capsules were large prisons that contained flocks of small animals inside. Eggman was usually guarding these Capsules after encounters with his combat-oriented vehicles. The large metallic capsules had a yellow switch on the top roughly the size of a spring launcher which, when depressed, opened the Capsule from the sides and sent out the small animals to freedom.

This one was peculiar in that it had two small propellers keeping it afloat from what would normally be the bottom; the switch was instead directly below. No matter, I twirled my tails and hovered up to push the switch down from below. The doors on the sides opened up and flocks of Kuckies and Flickies flew out. They let out a chorus of chirps and warbles as they briefly encircled me as I went to land on my feet and then dispersed in random directions. The mobile Egg Capsule then hovered away beyond the waterfall.

I was alone again and with a dead-end in front. The tall cliff above only led to a wall. I did spot a strange switch on the foot of it, however. What could it be?

My curiosity was interrupted when I heard a loud crashing of rock from the wall: pieces of it flew around some of which fell down to my level upon the wooden bridge. I stepped back to get a better view of what was beyond.

Knuckles.

The red echidna come out from the wall with ease and stepped in front of the cliff to get a view of the sight before him. I could see his deep purple eyes scanning around; they looked pained and horrified. His mouth was kept stone cold and stern. He was clearly mad at something. Once those eyes locked onto mine I could see what it was for. He let out a snarl, baring small fangs.

"_You_!" He pointed at me with a closed fist and lowered his brow.

I deflected a sharp tone back at him with biting words "I have a name you know, it's called Tails."

He spat at the ground. "You don't deserve a mention after what you did. I can't believe you'd actually do this. You're supposed to be just a bratty kid..."

Clearly I did something wrong here. Was it me disposing of Eggman? No...he couldn't have seen that, he had just come out of the wall, he couldn't have seen what happened.

I had to ask. "What did I do?"

He snarled again and shook a fist at me "Don't play stupid! You set fire to these jungles!"

My ears folded back. It was one thing that this Knuckles was highly gullible but I just _hated_ being accused of something I felt was personally horrifying myself. Why would _I_ ever think about doing what Eggman did?

"Where did you get that idea? Eggman's lying to you! Why would I… _how_ would I even set all these fires myself?"

But it felt like all of what I said went through one ear and out the other. "You're the one feeding me lies! I can't believe you...I treasured these jungles..." He looked hurt. Very hurt. Even if only for mere moments.

I tried again in vain to convince him otherwise "There's no reason in my mind to set fire to these jungles either! I could see the beauty in them too! I didn't want–"

He yelled back at me with his eyes flaring. Over the harsh waterfall, his voice was clear as crystal "What does it matter?! Ever since you came here you've been nothing but trouble! Everything would have been fine had you not come here with your stupid mission to stop the doctor!"

He stepped back a bit and rested a thick shoe on the small metallic switch. "Get out of my sight." He stomped on the switch with all his power.

From under me the wooden bridge collapsed and I was left powerless. I dropped down to the depths below, left wondering why this had to happen. What did I really do wrong? Was it really my fault...?

I'd never weathered a worse series of events in life than I had up to that point.


End file.
